Underground Elements
by Neptune-Saturn
Summary: Things were supposed to be easy. The war has been over for years and those who tried to start it again have been stopped. Something dangerous and ancient is about to break lose.
1. Chapter 1

Sat. back and with a different kind of story. I've had this in my mind for a while. I don't have time for this story and the Vampire Knights story that I have going, but I'm going to do it anyway. Now, this is an odd crossover, but don't leave the story until you've read at least half of this chapter. I've decided to put it under Gundam Wing anime because I think more people will read it. It's a crossover between Avatar: The Last Airbender and GW. IT IS NOT A CRACK FIC.! I PROMISE IT HAS A REAL PLOT! Now, even if you haven't seen ATLA, that's fine. I'm just taking the concept and abilities, which will be explained in the chapters here and ahead. Wow, this is a long a/n. anyway; I own nothing familiar, including the idea of Benders and Avatar information so, on wards with the story!

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Underground Elements

Chapter one: Alliance

Twenty-four year old Heero Yuy briskly walks down the Preventers first floor hallway, not running into anyone. Most of the new Preventers quickly scurry out of his way, scared of the infamous man, and some of the older ones just shift their direction of walking out of his path. He and the other four ex-gundam pilots are well at work for the Preventers, but no wars have broken out. Relena Peacecraft has been doing a wonderful job keeping the peace up and going, despite some war fanatics still trying to stir up trouble.

Taking the stairs to the third floor, he continues his stiff walk to his office. He just wants to go home. The Prefect Solider is sick today. Yes, he is sick. He chokes down another rising cough, wondering why the medicine isn't working as well as it should. Heero decided before he came to work that he'd only work a half day and take the paper work home with him, back to a dark room and away from the florescent lights of the office. He takes a seat at his organized desk, pulls out some papers in the files sitting on his desk and rubs his forehead a little.

"Wow, you're actually late," some guy comments from the office entrance way. Heero looks up to see Duo Maxwell leaning against his doorjamb with a grin.

"My body didn't want to get up," Heero replies with a slight glare.

"You must be sick, then," the American reasons while letting himself into the office, and shuts the door, "That's pretty rare… in fact, I can't remember anytime you were sick." After all these years, Duo still has his long brown braid. He decided when he was sixteen that it should stop right at his beltline, so he does trim it every so often.

"Is there a reason you're in here?" the 01 pilot asks with an annoyed tinge to his voice.

"Yeah, there is," Duo replies, leaning back deeply in a chair in front of Heero's desk, "I already took care of those files in your hands. Lady Une also wants to see us for some thing important."

Heero drops the file and asks, "When?"

"As soon as you got here," the violet eyed man replies, rising out of his seat, "Apparently, we have visitors."

Both men leave the little office space and head down the hall. Heero knocks curtly on Une's door and enters after being told. Inside are the other ex-gundam pilots and two women. Each pilot has grown into themselves. Quatre Winner has stopped wearing pink shirts and purple vests, going for plain white dress shirt and black slacks. He isn't a full time Preventer, but is called in with special cases or exceedingly difficult ones. Wufei Chang has grown a few good inches taller along with some slightly longer hair. Trowa Barton has gained a few inches as well, making him the tallest in the room. Both men are wearing Preventer uniforms as they lean on the walls to the left side of the office.

The two women occupy the only two chairs in the room, besides Lady Une's desk chair. One woman is taller than the other, but looks younger or around the same age as the other woman. She has long black hair freely cascading down her back. She has pale skin and bright brown eyes. Her clothes consist of dark jeans, black heeled boots, and a purple shirt that says, "What are you looking at?" The other woman has short red hair that could possibly be put into a ponytail. She has bright blue eyes and, oddly, dark tanned skin. She wears a dark long sleeved top with black pants and low heeled boots. She also has fingerless red wrist warmers on that are poking from her sleeves. She doesn't look at all happy to be here.

"Glad you could make it Yuy," Une says from behind her desk, "It's not like you to be late." Said man doesn't reply.

Une has aged, but time has been kind to her. She looks a few years younger than she is. She shuffles some papers around on her desk, looking for something important. She pulls out five papers and slides them towards the shorter woman. She reaches foreword hesitantly and takes the sheets. The taller girl leans over to look on with her.

"Would either of you like to explain the situation?" Une asks the young ladies sitting in front of her.

"You had better start it," the taller one says, "We'll pick it up when you think it is right to. I don't think either of us could explain it to them in a…proper fashion, for lack of a better term."

"Fine," she replies, "Gentlemen, we have a gross issue on our hands. A war that has been waging under the surface of the peace and it is about to break out. This war has been going on for many years, longer than the one we fought in (the shorter woman snorts a laugh) and we need to keep it from loosening itself from the shadows, perhaps even quelling it."

"Why didn't we help before if we had knowledge of it?" Quatre asks, glancing between her and the two ladies in the chairs.

"At the time, we weren't supposed to know the participants or the fact that a war is going on at all," she responds to the blonde Arab, "Most still don't and it's to be kept that way. The reason this information wasn't spread through the Preventers was due to the request of some participants. Also, information wouldn't leak out as easily."

"That's why you have the security cameras off in here and outside you office?" Wufei asks, with his usual frown. She nods.

"How does no one know about this war if it has been going on so long?" he asks with a stoic face.

"People are good at cleaning up the bodies," the redheaded woman mutters to him, not looking up from the papers in her hand.

"Ladies," she says, directing the attention of everyone to the two unnamed women, "I believe that as participants in this underground war, you need to fill them in now."

The shorter one gives a rough sigh and runs her hand through all of her hair. She pushes the sheets of paper towards Une, done reading over them. The taller one fidgets a little with her hands and shifts some in her seat. The Chinese man's eyes tighten to a small glare directed at the "participants".

"I hope you know how ridiculous this is, Une," the redhead growls at her with a heated glare.

"I understand that sharing this information you so viscously protect will be difficult, but it must be done," the older woman says with finality. Both young women look at each other and the taller one shrugs.

"You say that so casually, it hurts a little. Names should be in order, first," the redhead starts, "Guys, Alincia Dunne, but you can call me Ally."

"My name's Katharina Wilcox, but you can call me Kit," the taller woman introduces herself with a smile, "We already know all of your names. The sheets that Une gave us had your basic information on them."

"Generally, this war is between us, along with our friends, against an organization bent on 'refining the world' as they call it," Ally says, slouching low in her chair, "They couldn't even come up with a creative reason. We can usually handle these idiots, but we have three major problems."

"The first is that we can't find them," Kit says, taking up where Ally left off, "They don't have a main base in the colonies, and Earth is a great deal larger. The second is that they got their hands on mobile suits somehow. We can take them out two at a time with some concentration, but now they found Taurus dolls. The third is something I don't want to mention among unsafe walls."

"How did they acquire the suits?" Quatre asks with worry.

"Do you honestly think everyone's destroyed them or stopped producing them?" Kit asks with a corked brow, "They sell huge on the black-market. The new prices are so painful that's it's not even funny."

"And how would you know that?" Wufei asks with an accusatory voice.

"Do you know of a better way to get info on your enemy if they use illegal suits?" Ally snaps right back, leaning foreword.

"You ladies must have a lot of connections," Duo says with a large grin. Ally and Kit grimly smirk at him.

"You could say that," Kit says coyly.

"That's basically it," Ally says with a shrug and sinks back down in her chair.

"Alincia, you need to tell them the other details about yourselves and the war," Une says with a slightly mocking voice.

"_Not here_," she says in a low and dangerous tone.

"You have to tell them or at least show them," Une reasons with an even tone, "That's the only way I believed you."

"I was ten and stupid then," she spits back at her, leaning almost off the chair, "I understand the consequences now and I won't jeopardize those I protect and our secrecy."

"It isn't wise to do it here, Une," Kit calmly adds after her angered friend.

"If you do not tell them or demonstrate, you will receive no help," Lady Une threatens with a poker face.

Ally gets up roughly and begins to walk out of the door.

"Ally, wait a second!" Kit says, grabbing her arm, "Lady Une, you know that you need our help just as much as we need yours. This is ridiculous and a waste of time and effort for either of our sides. We have to compromise."

"Then, take them to your safe house," Une says with crossed arms and leans back in her chair.

Ally perks at this and whirls to look at the manipulative woman. She knows what she's doing. Une trapped her and her friends in a hard place and a sheetrock at their backs. There was no alternative. No matter how badly she wants people to stay out of the safe house created for her and her friends, she knows that Une is too hard headed to yield and that neither would she. Ally stalks back to Une's desk and leans her hands down, getting very close to Une.

"You do realize how easily I can tear this place up?" the redhead spits out at the older woman. The men tense, ready to take Ally down.

"And you realize how badly you need my help," Une says, with a calm voice.

"Damn," she mutters, "I thought you stopped being so manipulative, Une." Said woman smirks at the redhead.

"Will we take them?" Kit asks her shorter friend.

"Yeah," she turns back towards the door, "Better keep up guys."

"Une," Kit says with a serious voice, "Be careful how much you get under her skin. Ally has the most patience out of us, but there are limits."

Une just nods and smirks. Both women walk purposefully out of the office and down the hall towards the stairs with the five men following behind, with a nod of approval from Une. Once outside, they veer to the left and start down the busy street. After many turns and intersections, the group enters the rundown part of the city. The two women lead them to a falling apart warehouse. It's so old that it might just fall apart in a small wind surge.

"Home, sweet home," Kit mutters as they enter the dusty building.

"This doesn't look like a suitable safe house," Wufei mutters, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets.

"That's the point," Ally shoots over her shoulder.

Taking an odd stance, Kit slams her hands up in a pattern of three, one, two, and one again. Suddenly the earthy floor begins to split in half and slide horizontally apart, revealing stairs made of stone. The two women being to travel down as the slightly stunned men follow. Small torches light one side of the stairs as they descend. The temperature drops to sixty degrees from the eighty degrees in the sun. Ally mutters a few times about Une being a manipulative bitch and thoughts about getting back at her. Kit just shakes her head at her friend's empty threats.

They exit the staircase and the earthen walls shut it quickly behind them, making Duo and Quatre jump. The area is a large square room with four doors; two in the far back and one on each side. Above them is a balcony that lines the whole room. The entire structure is made out of stone that is well smoothed. On both sides of the staircase they just came from are two large basins of clear water.

"Err, you guys may want to cover your ears," Kit warns with a nervous look.

"Why?" Duo asks, doing as he's told. Quatre follows suit.

"'Cause, Ally is loud as hell," she replies, covering her own ears.

"Hey, you three lazy asses! Get down here right now!" Ally bellows and her loud voice bounces off the walls and off of the three guys that didn't cover their ears: Heero, Wufei, and Trowa. Heero winces. As if his head didn't hurt enough. One of the rare days to get sick and he has to stop some random war.

"Alright, airhead, we're comin'!" another loud woman yells back.

Two women come from the right upper door and another one comes from the lower left door. One woman at the top is brown skinned, showing some sort of Hispanic in her. Her hair is light brown, thick, short and curly. She wears a black tank top and red flair jeans with black tennis shoes. The woman next to her is pale white and has bright blonde hair and green eyes. She wears a simple blue shirt and blue jeans with white tennis. The woman on the ground level is the tallest out of all of them, but only a bit taller than Wufei. She has ebony skin with long hair in a loose and thick braid. She wears ripped jeans and a green shirt that says, "Wanna fight?" with a bruised smiley face at the bottom.

"You brought guests back," the one in the red top says, "and guys, no less. Get my message I left on your door?"

"About this group needing some testosterone people?" Ally asks with a grin, "Yeah, but they weren't brought here on your request. Une sent 'em as help. We have to…demonstrate ourselves."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" the braided pilot asks. He can't help but think about how many meanings that phrase has.

"You'll see," the Hispanic woman says with a sly grin.

Suddenly, a pillar earth shoots up where the two women up top are. This scares the hell out of the five men. A few do a good job of holding their surprise but some can't. The two women at the top get on to the pillar and the ebony woman takes an odd stance and the pillar lowers.

"Holy hell!" Duo can't help but yell in a slightly delayed reaction.

"Tch. And Une wanted us to demonstrate this in her office," Ally mutters, "Crazy."

"Okay, before you guys go insane," Kit says walking in front of the group with a sheepish smile, "Let's do some introductions! I think you guys should go first since Ally and I had to last time."

"Why?" Wufei asks, a tiny bit annoyed. The woman just shrugs in return.

"Well, I'm Duo Maxwell; I may run and hide, but I never tell a lie," the 02 pilot says with a grin.

"Quatre Raberba Winner," the blonde Arab says with a polite smile.

"Trowa Barton," the tallest member says with a quiet voice.

"Yuy, Heero," the ill pilot says.

"Chang, Wufei," the Chinese man says.

"Well, don't we have an odd group on our hands," the ebony girl says with a smirk, "Though, we're not much better."

"My name's Zumi Santo," the Hispanic woman introduces herself with a coy smile.

"I'm Hana Jackson," the blonde woman says with a shy smile.

"Halite Facino," the tall ebony woman says, "But you can call me Hailey."

"Why do we have the traditional names?" Ally asks, confusing the males further.

"Parents' choice, I guess," Hailey replies with an uncaring shrug, "What do they know?"

"Basically everything, but what we are, what we can do and where we are," the redhead responds, shoving her hands into her pants pockets.

"I think we should do this in the kitchen," Zumi pipes up behind Ally, "Y'know, around chairs."

"Good idea, Zumi," Kit says with a bright smile.

The group of females led the males off to the right back door and they enter into a white and silver kitchen. Hana kindly directs the guys to take a seat at the table while Hailey, Zumi and Kit take the bar seats. Hana leans on the side of the bar and Ally paces a little between the two groups, trying to figure out a decent way to start this long explanation. Stopping between the two groups, she claps her hands together, coming out in a slightly muffled sound and takes a deep breath.

"All of you must understand this more than anything else," she starts, looking each man in the eye, "Whether you believe us or not, you must not tell anyone this, even if you think it's a funny story or something. Got it?"

"Sure, Ally," Duo says with his trademark grin, "We're all pretty good at keeping secrets." Quatre laughs a bit at this.

"Good," she smirks back, "'Cause this is one helluva secret. We need to start in the beginning. History records go back a long ways, but there were records lost to time and decay before any of the earliest recordings found. Before, people were much more in tuned with the four basic elements of earth, water, fire, and air. To an extent, there were a people who could control a certain elements and those that couldn't. These element controllers were called Benders.

"Now, like all civilizations, there were wars and such issues between countries. Before, there were only four nations: the Fire Nation, the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, and the Air Nomads. Everything in the world is about balance. To everyone, life was black and white and there had to be a gray spot connecting them equally. This gray spot was called the Avatar. The Avatar could control all four elements and was reincarnated into each nation after each life in a particular cycle of water, earth, fire and air. The process is so old, not even the records we could get a hold of says anything about the first every Avatar. This one person kept the peace between all the nations and only they could restore balance if massive conflicts broke out.

"Now, the Bender population is nearly extinct. The gene is believed to become so weak that it is rarely passed on through children of Benders. To find one Bender in ten countries is very rare. There is, however, some diehards that want to dredge up some past that isn't suppose to be happening again. At one point, the Fire Nation nearly succeeded in taking over the world, but Avatar Aang was able to stop them before the Earth Kingdom, which was the last hope, fell. The people we're dealing with wants the same thing, only they're not restricting it to just Firebenders, but to all Benders. They want to wipe out more than half of the non-bending population, including the colonies. Phew, that was a lot to say."

The woman leans on the counter, placing her chin in her palm and leaning her weight on one leg. For a few moments, everyone is silent after Ally's explanation and history lesson. The women wait patiently for the men to process the massive information they just received.

"So, what you're saying is," Duo starts slowly, trying to understand what he was told, "is that there are superhuman element people that want to take over the world?"

"They're not superhuman," Hana replies, "But that is the basic idea."

"What happened to the Avatar?" Heero asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

"We're not sure," Ally answers, "The process hasn't stopped, but no one has found the new Avatar. One was found about two decades or so ago, but he was killed. We're not sure if the process will wear it self out if there isn't enough benders around."

"I don't believe a word," Wufei says, getting up and glaring at the group of women. None look annoyed or angry. In fact, they knew this was coming.

"Which is why we're gonna show you," Zumi says with a huge grin.

"Yay, training time!" Kit says with a silly smile.

"You're a crazy little water sprite, I hope you know that," Hailey mutters.

"But you wouldn't have me any other way," she replies with a grin.

"That's true," Hana says in a thoughtful voice, "It's funny to watch you run in to walls all the time."

"Aw, shut it!" the black haired woman snaps back at Hana.

"Why do you need our help?" Trowa asks, speaking for the second time, "Also, what was the third problem you couldn't say outside safe walls?"

"Wow," Ally says surprised, "You can talk. We need more help because the Taurus Suits are learning more about us and it's kind of hard take one of those down if you don't have a suit or major firearms at all. We're running out of original ideas of how to take these suckers down quickly."

"How do you take them down?" Quatre asks, completely confused.

"By hand," all of them say with large grins.

"Impossible," Wufei snorts out.

"C'mon and see if it is," Zumi challenges, getting out of her chair and heading back to the main room.

The large group follows Zumi and the women spread the men against the wall, letting them know it's for their safety.

"So," Kit asks, looking at the circle they formed in the middle of the room, "Who wants to go first?"

"I'll start it off," Zumi says with a grin.

"Ever the pyro," Hana says, shaking her head.

"It's in the blood," the tanned woman says back as she walks to the men, "Hope you boys aren't afraid of a little fire."

She swoops her hands down some, her stance wide and in her palms are balled flames of orange. The little fire just flickers happily at its master's attention. The flame doesn't touch her palms, but rather floats right above it. The men look very shocked.

"Go ahead and take a closer look," Zumi says, "But don't touch the fire. It _will_ burn."

Duo shamelessly gets close to her palms, looking at them from different angles. Quatre looks around his head, seeing that fire is really there. She moves away from pilots 02 and 03 and to the others that hadn't move. Each look at the flames in their own ways and Zumi backs off and away from them, killing the fire.

"I still don't believe you," Wufei says with a hard glare. Suddenly, heat explodes behind him. Zumi holds her stance, fist extended with her right foot parallel on the ground, with smoke coming from her wrist. Wide-eyed, 05 turns and looks at a scorch mark just next to his head on the wall.

"How, 'bout now, chico?" she asks with a grin, relaxing her stance, "Hot enough for you?"

"Enough, Zumi," Ally interrupts in a lazy voice, "We want them on _our_ side, remember?"

"I'll go next then," Hana volunteers and Kit joins.

Both women pull water from the basins next to the hidden staircase entrance way. Their bodies smoothly twist and turn as they pull a small stream of water towards them. They each do something different; Hana pulls it around the space in front of her and around her own body while Kit changes it into different aquatic animals. Kit freezes a fish shape, taking a deep breath, bringing her hands to her mouth, and exhaling mist that frosts the fish while extending her arms. It drops with a thick thunk.

"You guys can come and see it," Kit says with an inviting wave of her hand.

Quatre is the first to go and see it. He puts his hand on it and immediately pulls it off while muttering that it's really cold. Hana still holds her water around her in a hoop. Duo walks over to her and sticks his hand in the water.

"Okay, this is so freaky," he says, pulling his wet hand out.

"But, fun," Kit says with a smile as she melts the fish and send the water back into the basin. Hana follows her actions and walks back to the group of females.

"I'll go next," Ally says, "My element is a little simple. Sneezing when I was five was always a problem."

Walking towards the men, she spreads her legs a bit. Crouching down, she jumps into the air, nearly hitting the ceiling fifty feet away. She slaps her hand against it before floating down, hair ruffling along the way. She lands silently and walks back ignoring the gapping mouth of Duo along with the wide eyes of his companions.

"You're so anti-climatic," Hailey says with a shake of her head. The other woman shrugs.

Hailey takes a solid stance and stomps a foot foreword, pulling up a pillar of earth. She then splits them into rock disks, her arms in sharp motions, elbowing the air around her. After cutting up the rock, she beckons the "audience" foreword. This time, all of them come to inspect the cut up rock.

"How is this possible?" Trowa asks himself more than anyone else.

"Genetics," Hailey says with a small sigh, "It's all natural." She pulls the rocks back into a pillar and pushes it back into the rock floor.

"If you guys didn't catch any thing we just showed you," Zumi says with some sarcasm, "I'm a Firebender, Hailey's an Earthbender, Kit and Hana are Waterbenders and Ally's an Airbender."

"Amazingly," Ally mutters with a sigh.

"What do you mean?" Heero asks. The medicine he took earlier before work is beginning to wear off. His mood is dropping drastically. He wants whole answers, not tidbits.

"When Avatar Aang was around," she begins to explain, "He stopped a war that lasted 100 years. During the time he went missing, the Fire Nation massacred every Air Temple. They killed every last monk and nun, except him. I may be a direct descendant. He started to repopulate the Airbenders, but then the genetic decline happened about a thousand years later. Waterbenders aren't much better."

"How so?" Quatre asks.

"There were only two places Waterbenders lived," Hana says in a small voice, "the North Pole and the South Pole. The South Pole tribe lost connection with the North Pole tribe, which wasn't hard to do."

"During the 100 year war," Kit picks up after Hana, "The Fire Nation went to the South Pole and killed all the Waterbenders except for one they missed. There weren't that many Waterbenders in the other tribe either."

"So the fact that I exist," Ally says with a matter of fact tone, "Or that we have two Waterbenders here in one place is nearly inconceivable."

"Yay, we defy the mathematical logic of the world!" Kit says, half hugging Hana, who laughs.

"You evaded my other question," Trowa cuts in. The women glace between themselves.

"Um, you guys need to digest a lot of new things," Hailey says, "I think you should hear that last part later. You guys have to go back to Une soon."

"C'mon, what else could you hit us with?" Duo asks with a shrug and weak grin.

"Do you really want to know?" Ally asks with a deadpan voice.

"We came here to receive all the information," Heero says. Yeah, that cold stuff is wearing off fast. His nose is getting runny.

"Fine, you asked for it," Hana says with a shake of her head.

"The organization we're fighting got a hold of something very dangerous and valuable," Ally starts, with an apathetic voice, "In a way, they have what is inside Pandora's Box and they are making a new Pandora. We aren't sure how they came across these items, but we do know when they got them and how much they had to pay, which was a shit load."

"No kidding," Zumi mutters, rubbing the back of her neck.

"What they have…" Ally trails, biting her lower lip, "are the blueprints of Epion and the materials to build a new one. They are modifying and upgrading the hell out of it."

Silence echoes off the brown stone walls. None of the men move and Heero's eyes slowly widens. Kit can't decide if it's from surprise or fear of what this mobile suit means to him. Zumi mutters something in Spanish, while tugging her hand through her thick hair.

"We warned you," Hana mutters, a bit annoyed.

"Oh God," Duo chokes out, "Please tell me this is a sick joke."

"It'd be easier if it was," Kit says with a sad look.

"This is the only real reason we need help," Ally says, breaking up the shocked mood as best she could, "You five had been in contact with the original Epion and still live to say so. We have no experience at all."

"We need to stop them before they get done with the suit," Hailey says with a hard tone, "If that 'doomsday device' is let loose, well… let's not think about the consequences."

"I…" Duo starts with a stunned face, "need to sit." He slumps against the wall.

"Warned y'all," Hailey mutters.

"This information is fresh by a week," Kit says with a weak smile, "So, there's something to look foreword to!"

"Do any of you…_onnas_ have any idea what you have involved yourselves with?" Wufei asks in a dangerous voice.

"Yeah, we do _hombre_," Zumi snips back, "and we also understand Chinese to an extent."

"Those two will get along great," Quatre mutters to Duo. 02 snorts a laugh at his friend's sarcastic comment.

"Break it up, Matchstick," Kit says, pulling the arm of her hotheaded friend, "We don't need you to set him on fire or anything."

"Alright," Hana says, getting everyone's attention, surprisingly, "We have a scheduled safe time in a minute. We've timed it so if one of us needs to leave, there are good times to appear on the street. You five need to get back to Une and decide what you want to do. She said this job will up to all of you. Hailey and I will lead you out and to the main street."

The Earthbender faces the left wall and takes her solid stance. She steps, bringing her hands in a vertical slash and the wall splits and is slowly brought apart. Hana walks in front of Hailey and begins to push her arms to and fro her body, gradually moving her whole body in the motion. The other women line the men up around the two working Benders. They walk into the dark entrance, leaving the other three women behind. Hailey closes the earth behind her, engulfing everyone in black and opens the rock ahead of them. Water immediately meets them, but Hana, changing her motions, is moving it around them in a large current. They walk out of a small lake completely dry.

"That had to be the coolest thing ever!" Duo exclaims with some immaturity. The other four won't really say anything, even though it's true.

"Follow us, we're not far from the main road," Hana says with a small smile. They lead the five out of the wooded area and to the main street that they came on.

"See ya, guys," Hailey says, turning to walk back to the lake.

"We may see each other pretty soon," Hana says with a small nod of her head.

The pilots walk back to the office, all in profound silence. Each of them ignored everyone and everything around them. Once they entered the Preventers office and went to Une's office, someone said something. Who else but Duo?

"Ya know what?" he says, plopping down in a chair in front of Une, "This is Heero's fault for today being a weird day."

"How is it _my_ fault?" Heero asks with a glare at his braided friend.

"You're sick _and_ late to work," 02 reasons, holding up a finger, "I think the world might be coming to an end."

"I think you're an idiot," Wufei mutters.

"Aw, 'Fei," he responds with a fake whine, "You hurt me!"

"Did all of that really happen?" Quatre asks with a confused face.

"I believe so," Trowa mutters next to the blonde man.

"Gentlemen, you have three days to give the other ladies your answers," Une interrupts with an amused smile, "Think about it carefully. You will be…temporarily terminated from the Preventers for this mission, if you accept. Your records will be given to you and you will be wiped out of the database. This is out of the request of the women you just meet with."

"Yep," Duo says, stretching is arms, "Diffidently Heero's fault."

"I should shoot you," 01 mutters, reaching to his holster.


	2. Chapter 2

Sat. back somewhat. Yeah, I'm a master procrastinator. Hope everyone had a good two holidays! So, I know that I have a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes, but I don't know if I'll go back and fix them. Only if I get bored enough. So, more information on everything in this chapter. On wards, space monkeys! I own nothing familiar.

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Chapter two: New lives and old stories

"Do you think they'll help?" Kit asks over a cup of hot coco.

"Don't know," Hana mummers, sipping her tea as she sits across Kit.

"Well, it depends on whether they want to give up the quiet life they have now," Ally comments, pouring Hailey some tea as well.

"It's quiet now?" the Earthbender asks with a smirk, receiving her tea.

"Quiet_er_," the Airbender corrects herself, handing Zumi her cherry tea.

"These guys certainly have a track record from what Une told us," the Firebender says, drinking her tea without a though about the heat.

"What will we tell them if they do accept our request?" Hana asks.

"Whatever they want except our personal pasts, by choice," Kit replies with a matter of fact tone.

Ally pours herself some coco and takes a seat at the table. She tugs the long black sleeves of her shirt and the purple fingerless cloth gloves. The women have been waiting around for three days. So far, there hasn't been a word from Une. It's not that they don't stay busy; they just want to know if they can get some more help. Une didn't relay any information on how long the decision time was going to be, so most of the women have been on pins and needles or just annoyed. Kit plays some with her drink, sloshing it around in circles using her bending.

Hailey sits at the bar, staring at her raspberry tea. There is one thing that she's very worried about. No doubt the others are as well. The benders didn't tell everything to the five Preventers. She leans her head on her hand. The worry isn't so much of not getting help, but what the help will find out about…certain secrets. Things that even Une doesn't know and won't find out about.

"Question:" Hailey asks, "What if they find out about the secret weapon we have stored here?"

"We'll do all we can to prevent them from finding out about that," Ally mutters into her drink.

"Tch, and if they do find out about that, hell will break loose," Kit comments back.

"They'll try to report that information to Une," Hana says, placing her cup down, "and if she knows… she could be targeted. She could also give leads to her men and to our base."

"Should we just tell them when they get here what the weapon is and all that?" Zumi suggests, "It would make things easier for us and it would build trust bonds."

"Yeah, and we wouldn't have to sneak around our own base," Hana agrees with a light voice.

"Dunno, guys," Hailey chimes in, "Isn't that giving too much leeway? They already know that we exist and where we are. I think that shows enough trust right there."

"That shows that we trust their employer, Une, not them," the Firebender counters, "Besides that, they've already put themselves in a big pile of trouble with us. No doubt they've been in bad situations too? Why not just come clean with the whole thing? It would make things easi—" Suddenly, and fist slams on the table.

"You don't have a very good memory Zumi," Ally lowly mutters, pulling her fist back, "I told you what happened to the last person who knew about that secret. The decision is final: we do not tell any of them. Got it?"

"Y-yeah, sorry," she stutters back.

The Earthbender looks at the black watch on her ebony wrist. 10:45 AM. A safe time.

"I'm gonna go up and check to see if we got anything," Hailey says, getting up and walking out of the kitchen.

"I'll go with you," Zumi says, jogging a little after her.

Hailey opens the large earth doors and Zumi lights the torches as they ascend.

"You should know better than that," Hailey comments, "I gave you a warning back there."

"I know," she exhales, "Sometimes I forget just how messed up Ally's life was, even compared to any of ours. I just want what's best for all of us."

"I know that," the taller woman says, "and she does too. You know she doesn't mean to snap at any of us on that subject, but she's still healing. It…wasn't that long ago for her."

The short woman nods and ends the conversation. Peering through the opening, the two benders don't see anyone in the old warehouse. They split up and begin to walk around the broken room. Zumi comes across a pretty new and clean looking piece of paper that is ripped and folded. Snatching it up from the crusty ground, she flips it open.

_Come. L.U._

"I think I found something," Zumi says in a low voice.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT(elsewhere)TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

"Figured out how you're gonna leave the company without causing an uproar yet?" Duo asks his blonde friend.

"Maybe, but it might still raise some questions," Quatre answers behind his elegant mahogany desk, "Some people might think that I've been kidnapped."

"Well," the brunette says in a lazy voice, "I never thought I'd be happy to be laid off."

"We're not taking a vacation, Duo," the Arab says with a smile.

"Yeah, but no more paper work for a while," Duo says with a grin.

"Are you ready?" Trowa asks the blonde, walking in the office door.

"Yes, I just sent the files to Une," Quatre replies, flipping his computer off.

"Now we just wait for a call," Duo comments, lacing his hands behind his head.

"Where are Wufei and Heero?" the blond asks Trowa.

"Cleaning out their homes," the quiet pilot says with a small smile.

"Spring cleaning," Duo says with a chuckle.

Each pilot is in regular clothes. Duo's in some dark blue jeans and a black button up shirt. Trowa wears faded jeans with an open dark green shirt over a lighter green shirt. Quatre wears brown slacks and a white button up shirt. They called each other yesterday and made a unanimous decision to help the benders. Une did help convince them, once she told them some more of the gritty details of the war, such as some battles that recently occurred offshore. It explained why the offshore drill blew up a week ago.

When they were told that the five women they met weren't lone fighters, the pilots found the idea of the war more conceivable. After getting some solid evidence, such as some files with pictures and account histories of a few companies that the benders sent Une, it didn't take much to convince any of them. Duo is still amazed that this war has been going on for so long and hasn't been heard of at all. What Ally said a few days ago was right. People were good at cleaning up the bodies.

"Here's something I've been chewing on," Duo says, "I did a cross reference on all the women. Nothing came up. Not even the basic info like birth certificates or social security numbers. Not a thing. I wonder if Heero'll find something."

"He tried," Quatre responds, "He couldn't find anything either."

"Wow, is he loosin' his touch?" the braided man asks.

"He said that he can't find what doesn't exist," he answers, "The women requested that we retrieve our records, remember? They must have their own with them."

"They really don't wanna get caught," Duo says with raised eyebrows.

"They're being smart about it. They've been in hiding longer than us."

Trowa takes a seat next to Duo as they wait for the other two pilots. The tall ex-pilot wonders just how they can fight off mobiles suits since none of the pilots have any. He also doesn't understand just how two people could take down a single suit without any weapons or suits of their own. The common physics contradicted the women's statement in that scenario to him, despite the demonstration that they provided. The phone rings on the desk. Quatre picks it up without saying anything. After a pause he responds with an okay.

"We're to meet two of them at a location. A park not too far from here," he relays to his friends.

"When?" Trowa asks.

"As soon as we can. Apparently, they're already there," Quatre says with a serious face.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTT(earlier)TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

"Alright," Ally states, pacing a bit in the main room, "Someone needs to go to Une's office. That means that we're going to have to split up and everyone will be doing something. We've never brought in people before, so we need some extra eyes and ears. The question is who goes where?"

"I'll go to the office," Hana offers in a small voice.

"I'll go with her," Zumi says, walking next to her.

"Alright, Hailey and Kit are the eyes and ears then while Zumi and Hana are the arms and legs," Ally says, nodding, "I'll stay behind and be the brain. Keep me informed of anything odd and gear up with some weapons. We don't know what could happen. Oh… and Zumi…I'm sorry for biting your head off back there."

Zumi dismisses the apology with a cheeky grin. Each woman breaks off to different directions, some getting handguns from a small weapons room and others getting some special cell phones. Ally heads to the central command room on the second floor, taking the top left door. She takes her seat in a chair and flips on nine monitors. The screens are in rows of three on top of each other. The room is tight, filled with other computers on the side and file cabinets along any empty walls. This is the only room with electrical lighting besides the kitchen. Fire is too dangerous here where the files are.

The Airbender zips in the codes to access the heart of their communications. The keyboard is custom made to switch to each computer and a few other things. Near the top are separated keys that are numbered one through nine. She runs through each, checking and warming the systems up. Typing in a command, she pulls up a map on the far right screen with red dots flashing on a map. Each cell has a tracking chip in it. Those have also been customized to reach calls all the way down to the central base where the brain works.

Four rings come in from the computer and Ally answers them each on different screens, locking in the signal.

"Alright ladies," Ally says through the headset on her head, "Stay brisk and focused. This is something unexpected for us and the enemy. Treat it as a class A mission."

The women disperse in their pairs and into different areas. Ally tracks Hailey and Kit underground for a half a mile while Hana and Zumi make their way to Une's office on the street. Ally cracks her neck and leans towards the screens. Hailey and Kit split and make a flank to Hana and Zumi a few hundred feet away. The phones can track two other phones at once, but only for a 1,000 foot radius. Hailey doesn't really need the tracker, but it helps when there are too many people and cars around like now.

Hana and Zumi arrive at the office with no encounters and they make their way up to her office. The officers shoot them odd looks, but don't question them. Some of the younger male officers check them out as they walk by, some daring to send winks. Hana rolls her eyes at their unprofessionalism. Zumi is surprised that no one has stopped and asked them why they're here or anything. Trusting in peace a bit too much, in her opinion. The women walk with purposeful strides to where Une's office is. With a short look at the directory on the first floor in front of the elevator, the Zumi knocks on Une's door on the third.

"Come in," she says.

The Waterbender and Firebender enter and quickly shut the door. Zumi glances at the security camera in the corner, but Une waves her hand dismissively. Hana walks ahead of Zumi, who is still on edge. The women take a seat.

"Lady Une?" Hana asks with a straight face and her normal quiet voice.

"Yes," she responds adding a nod, "I don't believe we've met. Alincia and Katharina usually handle business with me. May I ask why there is change?"

"Safety purposes," Zumi answers back with a smirk, "Is it a yes or a no?"

"Yes," Lady Une says, folding her fingers in front of her, "the Moon Lily Park."

"Thank you Lady Une," Hana says, rising and bows to her.

Zumi follows her actions and they leave the building quickly. Once outside, Zumi flips her phone open and dials Ally as they walk down the busy street.

"Talk to me," Ally says over the line.

"Conference it," she says with a monotone voice. After hearing some ringing Ally says okay.

"Yes, at the Moon Lily Park," the Firebender says, "Now."

Ally checks what is around the park. It's all shopping and some food stores. It's very public with a great deal of streets that branch into others. She commends Une for choosing such an easy place to meet in. Then again, it is Une after all. She's not an idiot. Just manipulative.

Zumi snaps the phone shut as they walk to the park. The two benders walk into the park filled with little children and young parents and some grandparents. Hana smiles at a little boy that runs into her legs. He looks up at her with large brown eyes. She ruffles his black hair and gently nudges him to the other children that are waiting for him. The two take a seat on the sides of a fountain. The fountain has a large white lily with a moon hanging behind it. Water bubbles out of the middle of the flower and drips down the stem and to the water.

"I love parks," Zumi mummers, "There are so many kids here."

"It's a little strange seeing so many of them in one place," the Waterbender responds with a smile at a group of kids playing tag.

"Remember trying to get Ally to stop tagging everyone when we were kids?" Zumi asks with a bright grin.

"Yeah!" Hana happily replies, "It's nearly impossible to play tag with her. She always let herself get tagged, and then she'd catch one of us. I say it's unfair that she's so fast."

"Hello, ladies," a man says in front of them.

They look up to a smirking Duo along with the other men. All of them are carrying small bags of some sort. Wufei, who is in classic Chinese fighting clothes, glares at Zumi and she just grins back. Heero is in a dark green tank top and very faded blue jeans.

"Good to see all of you. Ready to leave?" Hana replies with a practiced smile.

"Yeah, your mom's going to worry if we don't get home soon. She's making lunch for everyone" Zumi says getting up.

"Sounds wonderful. We wouldn't want to worry your mother," Quatre replies.

The men walk with the two women. Trowa walks next to Zumi while Quatre walks next to Hana. The Waterbender takes out her phone and dials Ally.

"Talk to me," Ally says.

"Hey mom, we found our friends and we're coming home for lunch, okay?" Hana asks over the phone, listening to Ally's typing.

"Sounds great," she responds with a laugh, "Ask 'em if they like Italian."

"Sure, mom. Thanks so much," Hana responds with a silly grin before hanging up.

"You guys like Italian?" she asks, turning her head a bit to look at the three behind her.

"I'll eat anything," Duo replies with a grin.

"Even if it's not really edible," the Chinese mutters behind him.

"I'm making up for lost time," he says with a shrug.

The banter continues while Hana and Quatre get into a steady conversation about interests. Zumi just listens to the silly banter, laughing out loud at some parts. Heero discretely rolls his eyes a couple of times. The group finally gets to the safe house. Kit and Hailey come up to the group, one on each side.

"Man, you two sound like a married couple," Kit comments to Wufei and Duo.

"That just shows you that either they get along really well or they like each other," the Earthbender comments, opening the hidden staircase.

The two men in question glance at each other and Duo jumps away while Wufei stalks to the opened stairs, twitching a little. The benders do their best not to laugh at them. Zumi fails and Hailey has to help her down the staircase.

"Silence, onna," the ebony haired man growls.

"I-I would if I c-c-could. It h-hurts," Zumi chokes, covering her mouth and leaning on the Earthbender.

"That was a priceless face," Kit comments with a reddened face.

"Where did you two come from?" Quatre asks, trying to change the subject.

"We've been flanking all of you since you got to the park," Hailey answers, "We've never done this before and wanted to take precautions, including taking firearms."

Kit's trying hard not to laugh either at the men's expenses. The group enters the main room and Hailey shuts the doors, sealing them in effectively. Finally, Kit bursts out laughing along with Hana. This fuels Zumi into more laughter.

"That's one way to make a guy feel uncomfortable," Duo mutters, rubbing his neck.

"Welcome back ladies," Ally says above them with a smile, "and welcome gentlemen. Now, tell me what are you three dying over?" She jumps of the walkway and lands with a slow and light thump.

"I-I can't get it out," the Firebender wheezes.

"Wufei and Duo were fighting like an old marry couple," Hailey explains with a shrug, "and I said that they either really get along or that they like each other."

Ally blinks at her friends and then looks at the two uncomfortable men that are far apart from each other. She bursts out laughing too. She grabs her gut and bends over.

"Oh man!" she says, "It wasn't even that funny, but y'alls looks are great!"

"I know, right?" Kit says, coming over to her.

"O-okay, I think I'm done," Zumi says, giggling every so often.

"And that made my week," Hana says wiping her eyes.

"Enough," the Chinese man growls out, "Ridiculous onnas."

"Don't know," the Firebender says, "I think you're ridiculous for looking so mad, but oh well."

"Moving on," Ally says, directing a look to Zumi, "Thank you guys for helping us out. You really don't know how helpful you'll be, or you'll know soon enough."

"Well," the Earthbenders says, "I better go and make some more rooms and a staircase. We didn't expect you guys today."

"Or any other day," Kit adds, "Une didn't let us know how long it would take for you five to answer her."

Hailey takes a stance at the right end of the walkway. She shifts through positions and the earth moves with her to make stairs. The earth forms the ridge stairs up to the walkway above.

"That sounds like Une," Duo says with a smile.

"It still amazing how each of you can do things like that," Quatre comments with raised brows as Hailey walk up the new stairs.

"We never really needed stairs before," Zumi says, "I mean each of us could get up there using bending. We don't really get to bend anywhere but here."

"That explains the scorch marks on the floor," Trowa flatly comments. Zumi grins sheepishly.

"Well," Hana says, rubbing her hands on her pant legs, "Guess we'll show you around."

"I don't think we've shown anyone around here before," Zumi says to Hana.

"It's something new to do," Hana responds with a small shrug.

The women show the new five members of their group the other rooms hiding around the main entrance room. They go to the training room, the extra parts room where they have what electronic devices and scrap metal, and the small weapons room. Soon, the group reaches the rooms that were freshly made by Hailey and where the women's rooms are. After the tour, the women finally take them to the Brain Room or the command center.

"Well," Ally says, taking the seat in front of the monitors, "Welcome to the Brain Room. From here we have all of our information and our tracking abilities excluding the few features on our cell phones."

Heero enters the room while everyone else hangs around outside. The room isn't large enough to hold more than three people comfortably and the maximum of five. 01 looks over the keyboard and the monitors. He shoots a questioning look to Ally. She shrugs and flips on all the computers, zipping the codes in each.

"We're electronically untraceable down here," she comments, "We're too deep in the ground for frequencies to reach us. No one really thinks about what might be below them."

"So, the enemy hasn't found you out before?" Quatre asks, walking over to the file cabinets.

"No, they have before," Kit says leaning on the doorframe, "But we were on the surface then. They don't know what we look like, which is nice."

"If they've found your safe houses before, how do they not know what you look like," Wufei asks.

"I can feel vibrations of people coming and I know who they are by the way they walk and their weight," Hailey explains with a grin, "when that did happen, we got our mission gear on. Part of it consists of masks."

"That's… weird but cool," Duo says with a confused expression.

"It's simple," the Earthbender says with a shrug, "People walk on earth, I can bend it and I can concentrate enough to feel them moving."

"Sucks trying to play hide-and-seek with her," Ally mummers from her seat.

"You're not any better with tag," she mutters back. Ally grins evilly as she continues to type.

"Why would you play childish games?" the Chinese man asks with tightly crossed arms.

"You'd be surprised how much work it is," Zumi says with a shake of her head.

"You should try some time," Kit says with a grin, "its fun."

"Preposterous," Wufei mutters to the silly women.

"Well," Ally says, turning in her chair, "That's it for the tour of the place. Now, what do you want to know?"

"None of your records are on file. Why?" Trowa asks.

"There all in that filing cabinet," Hana point to said object, "We pulled them or others pulled them out permanently for us. We don't exist outside of this safe house. Paper trails are hard to keep clean. We just got rid of the access to the original papers."

"The enemy," Heero says crossing his arms.

"Ah, yes," the Airbender says, "the idiots that want to save the bending race by killing everyone else."

She turning the chair back to the computers and begins to bring up some files from the main computer hard drive. The file shows a black haired man's headshot with some writing next to it. On three other monitors, other files come up; one is a woman with brown hair, a man with dark red hair, and another man with blonde hair.

"Let's take it from the top," Ally says, opening a file, "This is the main man of the whole operation. His name is Zanilo Markus. Ironically, he's a Firebender and thinks himself the reincarnation of Fire Lord Ozu. Ozu almost took over the world and was a nutcase, so Markus claiming this is big in bender society. He was the owner of a major mobile doll manufacturing company, Zodiac Weapons Co. Nasty piece of work. Lots of bribes, illegal deals, and murders to keep others quiet about some other deals between both sides during the wars you five were involved in. He was a double player.

"After the war, his company shut down due to lack of sales. Then, all suits were band and destroyed. He disappeared off the record tracks. What we didn't know about this guy was the fact that he was also involved in another war; our war. Not really ours, but you get the point. He was the head of this war, main starter of it along with a few other people: Holly Mendoza, Jacob Stone, and Jessel Shot. All of these people were his associates in his company. The only one we know that is a bender is Stone and he's a Waterbender. Markus killed the last Avatar in an Agni Kai or a Fire Duel. It's a very old custom from the Fire Nation. It was used to solve major problems of any kind. If the last Avatar won, the possibility of this war being over would have been huge. Since Markus claimed himself the reincarnation of Ozu, he would have to submit fully to the loss of the duel. That obviously never happened. Also, Markus has connections in the black market to information and supplies which is bad for us.

"In any case, if we can take out these four people a lot of our problems will be solved. Cut off the heads and burn the necks, you kill the hydra. As for the items they're buying off the B.M. we've been keeping tabs on all of them and a few other employees they have. We don't know of anything else with the 'doomsday device' that they're building except what we told y'all the last time. Any thing else?"

"How do you get into the black market?" Duo asks, leaning on the wall opposite of the doorway.

"Ah, that's fun," Kit says with a grin, "Since we have our own records, or lack there of for some of us, it's easy to get in and out of the B.M. We have different identities that we created from scratch. Hacking in to the social security services is pretty easy when you know the by-pass codes. Zumi worked for them once before and copied the codes on her stomach with a permanent marker when she quit a week later. They aren't very good at changing the codes that often and when they do, they don't do a very good job. We do normal infiltrations every month or so. In two weeks, we're going to make another trip."

"Seems like you ladies know what you're doing," Quatre comments with a smile.

"We like to think so," Zumi responds with a nod, "We do what we can and haven't been caught yet. Though, using hairspray on my stomach was not fun."

"Hairspray?" Duo asks.

"Best way to get ink off skin," she answers with a shrug.

"We were planning to bring you five on the trip as a test run," Ally says, picking out some files on the computer, "after teaching y'all some stuff."

"What about the mobile suits," Trowa asks, "How are we to fight suits without any of our own?"

"Ah, now that'll take some time," Hana says to the tall pilot, "We've made some connections to…fix something up. This connection of ours also has temporary suits for all of you."

"Who is this connection?" Duo asks.

"Someone we trust and have known for a while," Hailey answers with a small smile, "He only knows that we deal a lot in the B.M. and that we get into a lot of trouble. Hell, he doesn't even know our real names."

"Yeah," Kit says with a sigh, "He's great help. He's going to help with the repairs to…the surprises we have for you five."

"Tell us more about the bender history," Heero says, looking up at the screens behind Ally.

"Well, be specific," she says, pulling up other files labeled water, earth, fire, air, and general, "What do you want to know?"

"About the different nations," Trowa says before Heero could answer the question.

"Well, let's start with some basic customs and such," Ally says opening the general file, "What information we have is a bit limited, but we know more than Markus does by a long shot. The Earth Kingdom was the largest of the nations and Fire Nation right behind them. The Earth Kingdom was always big in ring fights and exporting some good basic crops. The Fire Nation was great at engineering new technology. They used iron and steel for nearly everything. The Fire Nation Navy was one of the best in the world because they found out how to use iron plates on boats and such.

"The Water Tribe was the largest and greatest fishing nation. The North Pole Tribe didn't let women bend for battle, but for healing instead. The Air Nomads were at all four points of the world and were most in tuned with nature. They had monks and nuns in separate Air Temples. They were pacifists and vegetarians and usually were chosen for nation negotiations. They were the only ones that have blue arrows or air bending tattoos on them after they become Master Airbenders. All of the nations, except the Air Nomads, had a monarchy system of government."

"What about the Avatar?" Heero asks.

"Well, they go in cycles," the Airbender responds, turning to face him, "after each Avatar dies, they are reincarnated into the next nation. Like we said before, the order is water, earth, fire, and air. This person was able to control all four elements and had something called the Avatar State. The Avatar State is the ultimate form of bending power when all the past lives awaken and the Avatar is most powerful and yet, the most weakest. We believe that the last Avatar was killed in the Avatar State is a big possibility. If this happens, the cycle stops and well, nearly the end of the world."

"Because the new Avatar hasn't surfaced yet, you think he might not come at all?" Wufei asks.

"Or she. Yeah, the new Avatar might come at all," Hana answers, "The elements aren't picky who the Avatar is, as long as they do the job."

"What do you mean that Waterbenders can heal?" the blonde Arab asks.

"Ah, what about a demonstration?" Kit asks.

"Sure," Ally says, slipping off her wrist warmer. Bending some air with her hand, she forms it to move quickly. She quickly slits the top of her hand, letting it bleed out. Kit walks up to Ally and whaps her upside her head.

"Stop doing that!" the tall Waterbender scolds her.

"Just heal the damn cut, water sprite," Ally grumbles, "You act like this is the worst injury I've had before."

"No, but between you and Zumi, Hana and I always have to heal your sorry butts," she responds, taking the water bottle Ally hands to her.

"So we're a little reckless," the Airbender says with a shrug.

"Biggest understatement of the year," Hailey mummers.

Kit removes the water and wraps it around her hand. Soon, the water glows and fits her hand like a glove and rubs it over the bloody cut. The blood washes away and the cut heals, leaving no scar. Kit replaces the water while Ally flexes her hand.

"Good as new," the Airbender comments, "I can always count on you to fix me up, Kit."

"Don't know why I still do," Kit grunts at the older women. She just grins.

"That was amazing!" Duo exclaims with large eyes.

"How did you do that?" Trowa asks as Ally shows the healed skin.

"Not sure," Hana answers, "but Waterbenders could always do so. Water gives life, so why not fix injuries as well?"

"Anything else, gentlemen?" Ally asks closing the files she was using.

"Where was each of you born?" Quatre asks.

"Deep south Louisiana in a no-name town," Ally says, flipping off the computers.

"Germany in a no-name town," Kit says with a grin.

"Oregon, from Portland," Hana says with a nod, "Lots of trees and snow. Good for bending."

"Raised in humid and hot Mississippi," Zumi says, "but I'm from Mexico in a little town. My family and I moved to America when I was about five."

"To be honest," Hailey says with an empty face, "the colony I was living in was about to be destroyed when I was little. I don't know the name of it since it was taken off the records to long ago.

"That's when you met me and Hana," Zumi says with a small smile.

"Well," Hana says, "Hailey and Ally has to do one on one training now. We have to run a few errands. Does any one want to come?"

"Aw, come on!" Ally whines and shuts down the computers, "Can't we slack off today? Just once?"

"Nope," Hailey says with a grin.

"Evil. You're just evil," the shortest woman mutters.

"Yeah, I'll go with you two," Duo says.

"I'll come as well," Quatre says.

"I'll go," Trowa says as well.

"You're welcomed to anything in the house but you have to ask to see files, whether they're on paper or electronic files," Ally says walking with Hailey, "We're going to see our connection for y'alls suits tomorrow."


	3. Chapter 3

Sat. back and very late, I know. I have good reasons: I do have another story going on the Vampire Knights side. 'Cough' subliminal messaging 'cough'. Anyway, in this chapter, the guys will start to learn more about their "roommates". Whoo! 19 pages! Not bad considering fun stuff'll happen next chapter! I own nothing familiar 'cuz if I did, I'd have so much fun with Death Scythe Hell. On wards!

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Chapter three: Prelude to Fake People

Heero is very annoyed. He can't access his laptop in this safe house and he isn't allowed to use the main computers without permission and supervision. Needless to say, he's been on withdrawal. He hasn't been able to find out very much about the women he and the other pilots are staying with. He knows a few personal qualities they have, but he likes to know about people he has to work with. That means background checks, where and when they were born, who their families were and everything else. Not knowing anything makes him severely uncomfortable, though he'll never admit it out loud. Quatre has already done that for everyone. Also, none of them are allowed in any of the women's rooms without permission.

Surprisingly, the connection the women have for the mobile suits is Howard, Duo's old friend. 01 briefly wonders why Howard's still dealing with dangerous business at his age, but then he remembers that it's none of his business. What Howard had for the five men were modified Taurus suits that the women stole slowly from companies illegally making them. The women gathered all of the parts and pieces; they just pay Howard and his crew to put them together. These are just temporary, but the five women won't tell them what the big surprise is. Ally had warned them that the surprise might not be a good one or two of the pilots, but that won't make her tell them.

Quatre has taken a liking to all of the women, but even he's suspicious of them. He wants to learn more about the ladies they're living with, but he'll rein his curiosity back for now. The files aren't in a lockable file cabinet and he would be able to break into it if it was lock. By not locking the files up, the women have placed a certain amount of trust on the men and Quatre is not one to break other people's trust. He'll just wait it out some to hear a few past stories.

Trowa closes the book he's reading and looks at the thoughtful blonde Arab across the room. They had talked for a little while, but Quatre doesn't want to leave his room yet. Trowa understands why his friend is torn between finding more information on the women and holding the trust they've already placed on them. It seems almost like a safeguard. The taller man just gave the advice of keeping an eye on them and letting them tell more about themselves willingly. Also, to not to get too attached until the women's real motives are learned. Trowa also pointed out that they weren't the only ones being cautious. The women haven't let them near the main computer or allowed them access.

Duo was the most surprised by Howard's appearance as the connection. He didn't think he was still in the business. After catching up with his old friend a bit, Duo asked if Howard knew anything about these odd five women. The braided man sits in his room fiddling with some piece of metal and chewing on what Howard had said to him.

"_Listen to me Duo," Howard says with a serious tone, "Be happy these five are on your side and not fighting you. I've heard a lot of rumors about them being god-like on battle fields. I don't really have much else to tell you, other than be happy they're with you and not against you. You're gonna have to find out stuff about them on your own."_

"Hey, Duo," Hana says with her small voice, "Do you want to see something cool?"

He looks up at his opened door way to a smiling Hana.

"What?"

"The girls and I are about to have an all-out spare," she responds, "I thought you might want to see that. We figured you'd be safe if you stayed on the walkway."

"Sounds pretty interesting," he replies with a coy grin and walks out with her, "Let me go get the guys."

Wufei sits cross-legged on the floor of his new room. He's only been here a week and he already found someone more annoying than Duo; Zumi. He's not used to living with women in general and to have five of them running around is near to a nightmare. He wonders just how Quatre could live with so many sisters. A few days ago, he was passing the main entrance room where he ran into Zumi and her…appearance.

Each woman trains a little differently, but Zumi's training outfit, or lack there of in his opinion, was a great shock. He walked by her practicing her firebending with only a sports bra on and a pair of black shorts. She explained that when she was little her clothes would catch on fire when she was training. Since then, as she said, "Old habits die hard." He noted how many scars and burns she had on her back and legs, albeit thin and aged. Wufei felt as though his face would burst from heat. He's ashamed to admit that he nearly ran into the kitchen and had a slight…nosebleed.

Suddenly, a rushed knock sounds on his door. Before giving permission to enter, Duo busts in with a very excited look.

"Wu-man, you gotta see this!" the brunette exclaims.

"Stop calling me that, and no," Wufei snaps back, "Leave."

"But all the girls are gonna fight together! Aren't you the least bit curious to what they can really do?"

The Chinese man pauses for a moment. It would be a good opportunity to learn more about what their abilities can do. In response he gets up and follows a slightly bouncy Duo out to the main room. The two men meet the other three on the walkway.

"So, Duo got you out here too?" Quatre asks with a weak smile. Wufei doesn't respond, but leans against the wall.

Kit comes out of the kitchen with four plastic straws. She wears a tight tank top and loose black pants. Hana has on some blue sweat pants and a baggy white shirt. Hailey has on a tank top and some black sweatpants. Zumi is wearing the same attire when Wufei stumbled upon her a few days ago. The Chinese man does his best not to turn red and fails a little. His other companions are too interesting in what the women are doing to notice. Ally has on a fitted long sleeve black shirt, white fingerless gloves and black sweatpants. Each woman has their hair up, even Ally, to an extent. All of them are shoeless.

"Zumi, you're exempted from being the target since you were last time," Kit says, "So chose, my girls."

Each woman chooses a straw and Ally get's the longest one. She mutters a curse in German. Zumi laughs and cracks her hands.

"Payback's a bitch, airhead," the Firebender says with a big grin.

"Geez, this is gonna be painful," Ally mutters and hands Kit her straw.

"What exactly is going on?" Duo asks Hana from above.

"We have certain training methods," she responds, "Every other day, we all attack one person and we have a time limit to pin the lone person or be pinned. If the lone person doesn't pin all of us within the time limit, they automatically lose. We didn't let you guys be an audience last time for safety purposes, but we think you'll be okay. Ally, on the other hand, won't be okay. She may be hard to catch because she's so fast, but she's also really light. Hit her hard enough and you can stop her for a second to pin her."

"I'll get the boom box," Hailey says going into the kitchen.

"This should be interesting," Wufei says.

"Hope so," Zumi answers below.

Hailey brings the boom box up to the walkway. She puts in a CD and presses pause. She goes back down. Ally walks in the middle of the room. Each woman takes a corner to surround the Airbender. She fixes her sleeves and takes her relaxed stance. Hana and Kit bend the water out of the basins and poise it around themselves.

"You're limit is four minutes and forty-four seconds," Hailey says, "Can one of you guys up there press play?"

"Sure," Duo calls down and press play. Hard rock with Italian opera singers' accompanying music began to burst from the boom box.

The women fly into action. Zumi shoots a fireball at Ally, Hana flings a water whip to her, Kit shoots icicles, and Hailey throws earth disks at her. The water and fire collided instead of hitting the intended target, creating smoke. Soon, the men and women loose visual of the Airbender. The smoke billows around the small area. A shot from the hazy cloud suddenly comes out of the top. Soon, a small whirlwind swept against the women. Ally shoots herself down from the ceiling towards Hana. She flings an air disk to the blonde Waterbender, throwing her off balance. Ally engages her to hand-to-hand. Hana tries to freeze the Airbender, but fails to stop her long enough to move in the right sequence. Ally suddenly pulls her hand across Hana's throat, creating a thin cut.

"Dead," Ally says, cutting a wall of stone coming behind with quick air slice.

Ally jumps out of Hailey's attack and she also pushes Hana out of the way from the rocks. Hailey shoots and stabs more stone and stalagmites towards the jumping Airbender. Kit wraps her arms in water tentacles and tries to catch Ally. In response, Ally uses and air bubble like shield against both of them and pushes it out to hit both of them. The air breezes over Hailey, but knocks Kit off balance. Ally jumps at the opportunity. She pushes the other Waterbender into only hand-to-hand fighting without bending. Finally, she punches a wave of air, throwing the Waterbender into the wall while making a small cut across her throat, among other places.

A stream of heat passes by the Airbender's head as she ducks out of instinct. Suddenly, the ground shoots up and throws Ally off. She lands on the bar, crouched and looking at the last two benders while ignoring the surprised pilots. She knows that she doesn't have that much time left. Hailey is the direct opposite in elements and will be hard to pin. Zumi has a grudge from the last time she was pinned. Ally suppose this is pay back for messing with Zumi's head while fighting. Standing up on the bars, she swoops her hands towards her mouth, bringing air in to it and shoots the massive air mass to the two last ladies. Hailey puts up a wall and Zumi takes refuge with her.

"One minuet and thirty seconds!" Hailey calls from behind her wall.

Ally decides to take down the defense Hailey's made. She slowly swings her fist around her in circles, moving the air around her. Concentrating the air currents around her right fist, she crouches and uses her left to hold herself steady. She launches off the bar, billowing the men back and pounds her air fist into the rocks, tearing it up. Zumi moves out of the way, but Hailey gets hit by the torn up rocks. Landing on her back, Hailey feels her neck and sees her hand with some blood on it. She's dead and she laughs.

"Just you and me, Zumi," Ally says with a grin.

"Mano y mano, no?" she responds with her own fiery grin.

"Always."

They run at each other, blocking each other's moves making air and fire spew and collide. Smoke billows up again, clouding everyone's vision of the last two women fighting. Sounds of fist meeting fist continue from the smoky area, as fire is seen from a few different areas of the smoke. Hailey walks up the stairs, helping a somewhat dazed Kit. Hana walks behind her, healing her own neck. Hailey leans the dazed woman against the wall and takes a look at the two left fighting.

"Thirty seconds, you two!" the Earthbender calls, "Come on Ally, you got this!"

"Go Zumi! Get that sneaky Airbender!" Hana cheers, raising her fist at the smoky field.

Suddenly, a figure flies out of the smoke and skids on the floor. Zumi stands up holding her neck. She glares at the smoke and yells something in Spanish. Ally's laugh echoes from the smoke. Suddenly the smoke thins out thanks to the Airbender. The two women walk up to the other people. They both have a black eye and some bruises on the cheeks and the arms. Zumi has some blood sliding past her hand around her neck.

"Whoa," Hailey says holding up her hand, "How did you two get black eyes?"

"How else?" Ally says, "By punching. You know that we more than just bending."

"That was by far the coolest thing I've ever seen," Duo says with wide violet eyes.

Ally shrugs it off and Zumi grins at him.

"We each decided to learn how to move like the other elements," Hana explains, "So the way we were fighting wasn't traditional bending for each of us."

"How do you know what's traditional?" Trowa asks.

"Ally knew a lot before she met us," she explains, "That and she also stole a few ancient bending scrolls."

"I didn't steal. I acquired for a more needy cause," the redhead says while walking over to Kit and tapping her shoulder.

"You okay?" she asks worriedly. In response, Kit whaps her in the gut.

"Yeah, I deserved that," she grunts out bending over a bit, "I'm sorry for sending you into that wall so hard."

"Apology accepted," Kit responds, using water from Hana to heal her neck.

"Such loving abuse," Hana comments, shaking her head.

"That was…interesting and impressive," Quatre says.

"I see how you could take a suit down," Trowa mummers.

"We have to restrain ourselves a bit in here," Kit comments, "It makes us concentrate on controlled bending. Sometimes we go above to do some large range training. Of course, when we run into a suit or two, then we can really let loose!"

"I need ice," Ally mutters, tapping her swelling eye.

"I shouldn't heal your sorry butt," Kit mutters, holding Ally's face as she heals the cuts and the eye somewhat, enough so that it'll fade in a few days.

"That's why I love you water sprit," the Airbender replies with a grin.

Suddenly, loud beeping can be heard from one of the back rooms. The women freeze and Ally reacts first, bolting for the main computer. The redhead shoots in the access codes as the other women fill the small room in. The ex-pilots hang outside of the door, unable to come in. They can still see the screen and hear Ally's fingers flinging over the keyboard.

"Mierda," Zumi mutters, reading the information scrolling down on one screen.

"Damnit, they're moving early," Kit growls, winding her way to the filing cabinet. She flings open the bottom draw, which has very little files and tugs out some thin ones.

"Fifty grand, twenty six grand, two million, shit," Ally says, running one hand through her hair while typing, "They're buying these all at once! And they're all major parts for the weapons system."

"What's wrong?" Quatre finally asks.

"Markus is buying early," Hailey informs with a serious face, "Which means that he either earned money faster some how without us knowing or that we have a rat in the black market on our informant lists. I'd go with the latter."

"Which means we need to make a trip early," Zumi says, "Esto es un problema mayor. We need a day at least to realign our scheduled times and meetings. Or we may just have to wait. Gah, this stress is making me talk in Spanish more."

Ally brings up an e-mailing page on five monitors and signs in. Hana gets out two wireless keyboards from underneath the table and hands one to Zumi. Soon Ally composes a rushed e-mail while the other two sign in. After reading it over twice for any errors, she signs it _Silvia Grey_. She takes the files from Kit and allows her to sit down. Kit mimics what Ally did, but signs the e-mail _Livy Salvador. _Each woman writes an e-mail to different people. Zumi signs her letter with _Chela Nuñez _though her e-mail was completely in Spanish_, _Hailey as _Sarah Lorn_ and Hana as _Felicity Smith_.

"All we can do now is wait for a response," Kit says with a sigh to the five outside the door, "And go over the new fake information for you guys a bit more carefully."

Three days pass as the ten people pour over the information they each need to memorize. The main computer hasn't been shut off since the e-mails were sent out. Kit has been doing constant virus checks, drawing Heero's attention to her method of defense. Instead of having firewalls as the main type of defense, she uses viruses that latch on to hackers and hack their information including what they're stealing while destroying their computers. She created seven lines of defense for the main computer, the last one having an arsenal of modified firewalls and "mutated viruses", as she calls them.

"What I did," Kit explains to Heero, "Was take the sneak of the Trojan horse virus and the Worm virus's digging method. After making a hybrid, I put in a self-destruct code to wipe the hard drive completely like an atomic bomb. It's my little mutated virus. They haven't been found yet nor cracked!"

Heero nods with a thoughtful face as he sits in the Brain Room with Kit. They've been in there together almost all day. He finds her easy to work with and only talks when they have the leisure time to, such as now. Hailey said they were having quality time together. The Waterbender signs into her e-mail page again, only to be disappointed.

"You have it programmed to inform you of an e-mail's arrival," the brunette man says, "Why check it?"

"Makes me hopeful," she replies with a weak smile.

"That doesn't make much sense."

"Yeah, but that's not gonna stop me from checking it every fifteen minutes. I do a lot of things that don't make that much sense to people."

Silence falls upon the two, though not a completely uncomfortable one. She pushes the keyboard back and lays her head on the empty space. Her fingers tap in different patterns on the table, making Heero think she might play the piano. Kit wishes she had a book to read, but she read the ones she has too many times. That means it'll be time to go to a bookstore soon. With lack of things to do and lack of talking from Heero, she sits up and looks at him.

"Do you wanna play a game?" she asks.

"Why?" he asks, looking a bit confused from the random question.

"Because I'm bored and I know you are," she says with a matter of fact tone.

"I don't play games."

"Which explains your winning personality," she replies with a smirk, "C'mon, it's not going to kill you. Please?"

He looks at her with a serious look. Instead, he sees bright brown puppy eyes. He quirks up an eyebrow, trying to understand why she thinks that will work. She continues relentlessly, even pouting her lips. Heero can start to feel his resolve falter into rubbery flakes. He doesn't understand why he can feel himself giving in, but he's always said to follow emotions. He's not one to be a hypocrite.

"Fine," he says with a disgruntled voice.

"Yes!" she says with a grin, "Let's play twenty questions since we can't play truth or dare in here. Ally will kill us. Do you know how to play twenty questions?"

"No."

"Well, it's simple. We get to ask twenty questions of each other and they have to be yes or no questions. We can elaborate on the answer if we choose. We each take a turn asking a question until we run out," she explains, turning to face him in her chair.

"What's the purpose of this game?" he asks, still disgruntled.

"Um," she says at a length, "If one of us wanted to find out an answer to a certain question, then that one person could ask all the questions and guess the answer. That's called twenty-one questions instead of twenty questions. When it's like this, it's to learn more about someone. A social game, I guess."

"That seems pointless," Heero says, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, but so is sitting here doing nothing," she counters, "Do you want to ask first or should I?"

"You," he says, "I'm unfamiliar with this."

"Okay. Twenty: Have you…picked apples off a tree before?"

"…No," he says with uncertainty of the question, "Have you?"

"Yes, lots of times. If they're around when I go outside."

She is annoyed that he used her own question, but it hasn't done this before. She can tell he's a little bit social phobic, so she'll let it slide. For now.

"Nineteen: Have you ever gone to a school dance when you were younger?"

"No. Nineteen: Have you ever gone to high school?"

"No, actually I haven't," she responds with a laugh, "I was self-taught and the girls helped me here and there. Eighteen: How many high schools have you gone to for schooling only?"

He pauses in thought for a moment and says, "None actually. They were all for missions and then I went into Preventers. I went to college after the war was over for a few years."

She smiles at his answer. She got him to elaborate on his own! Kit is happy to prod some sentences out of the stoic pilot. Now she knows what kind of questions to ask to get longer answers out of him.

"Eighteen: How many places have you been to?" he asks, bringing her back to the game.

"Not that many really," she says, "I haven't left this country before, but I have been to space once or twice. Seventeen: Do you know where you were born?"

"Somewhere in the colonies," he mummers, "Seventeen: Do you remember where you were born?"

"Nope," she says, her smile changing into a sad one, "I couldn't tell you if it was on Earth or in space. I've been in hiding since I could remember."

Silence lingers like a third person for a moment.

"Do you know your parents?" he asks in a quiet voice.

"Hey!" she says with a sudden smile, "It's my turn. Sixteen: Have you ever been asked out by a guy before?"

The question sends a shock of surprise through 01. It's then he realizes she did that on purpose to distract him. He'll let her avoid the previous question for a little while.

"No, I haven't. Sixteen: Has a girl asked you out before?"

"Tch. A few times, but I told them that I wasn't gay. They told me that was a shame. To that, I laughed and said I was sorry. Fifteen: Have you ever babysat?"

"Unless that applies to Duo, no."

She laughs at the dry joke Heero made.

"Fifteen:" he says, as her laughter slows, "Do you know your parents?"

She immediately sobers up. Heero is determined to learn more about these women even if he had to play silly games to do so. He carefully studies her body language as she draws her legs up to her and curls defensively. He doesn't think she'll ask him to play this game with him again.

"Just had to kill my buzz," she mutters, looking at the floor, "Yeah, I knew them. Fourteen: Do you like cats?"

"No," he says leaning foreword, "Fourteen: What happened to your parents?"

"You're breaking the rules," she says with an abnormally quiet voice.

"Hey, you two," Hailey says from the doorway, "Dinner's ready. Stop hoarding yourselves in the Brain Room."

"'M'kay, Hailey," Kit says, bouncing off her chair with a smile, "C'mon Heero. If we don't hurry, Duo'll eat everything!"

Hailey glances at him and questioningly at Kit's back. Heero sits a little stunned at how easily Kit covered up her depression. He gets up and follows the two chatting women down stairs to the crowded kitchen. He decides that she must have dealt with something traumatizing and found a way to cover it up.

"Hey, Heero," Duo greets him as he sits at the table, "Didja have a good time picking Kit's brain?"

"The defense system is interesting," he replies. He decides to leave out the game of twenty questions for Kit's benefit.

Dinner goes rather well, with Duo, Kit and Zumi coming up with different lighthearted subjects to entertain the whole table. Hailey keeps a discreet eye on Heero and Kit, almost as though she knows something is wrong. Quatre also picks up some discomfort from Kit, but he's a little befuddled by her happy and cheery expression. The young Arab decides to leave the matter alone for now and ask Heero later if something happened.

"Hungry, Ally?" Hana asks playfully.

"Huh?" the Airbender asks, snapping her head up.

"Yeah, Ally," Zumi says, "You've hardly eaten anything. You okay?"

"Mmm, just thinking," she mummers, drifting back into her mind.

"Ever our little tactician," Hailey comments to the distracted redhead.

"Can't blame me for looking at all the kinks and possibilities," she mutters to no one in particular.

"And that gentlemen," Kit says, holding her finger in the air, "is lesson number one about Ally's attention span. When something like this happens or it's close to mission time, the plan will always be on her mind so don't try to talk to her about much else."

Duo reaches his hands over to Ally's plate. Before he can grab it, she lightly slaps his hands, saying she's going to eat that. She continues to stare into space as though something is going to appear in the empty air. The cheeky man tries to slyly take her plate, but slaps his hand without looking at it.

"How can you do that?" he mutters, glaring at bit at Ally.

"Better at multitasking than guys," she replies, not blinking, "It's a scientific fact. I have about five things or so running in my head at the same time."

The Airbender slowly picks up her fork with food on it. Just as it reaches her lips, beeping sounds through the safe house. Ally dryly smirks, jumps from her chair and amplifies her running with bending. The rest of the people rush up after them, except for Hailey. She just takes her sweet time, not bothering to run. By the time she arrives, Ally is reading over all the messages nearly at the same time. No one can read Zumi's though, since it's in Spanish.

"Sweet," Kit says with a big grin, "I'm in for tomorrow."

"We all are," Zumi says, returning her friend's grin, "Marco says he'll take me too."

"We're all at different times," Hana quietly mummers, "This will be trickier than the most of the other meetings. The only good thing in this account is that it's all at the same place."

"Alright, everyone," Ally says, gathering everyone's attention, "We need to start preparing. We'll leave in our assigned groups and we'll work out the times after dinner. Make sure before tonight is over to check all of the mission items and look over the information. If any of you can think of things you'll need for any reason regarding the mission that we don't have here, make a list and bring it to the kitchen in an hour. Tonight, we need to make all the final preparations for this."

"Right," Hailey says with a nod, "I'm gonna finish eating."

"Me too!" Kit says, bounding out of the room with the Earthbender.

Soon, everyone disperses from the room except for Ally and Duo. She shuts down the computer and rubs her face with her hands. Duo hesitates near the door frame, studying the shorthaired woman closely. Her head is hanging down as her palms support her neck and her fingers curled around the rest of her neck. To Duo, it almost seems like she's choking herself. She doesn't seem to want to move yet. He walks behind her and places a light hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?" he asks.

"Yeah," she says looking up at him, "I'm just not used to having to direct more than five people. Even adding one throws me off and having ten to take care of is…stressful."

He takes a seat next to her as she turns her head back to the blank screen. He notices, on closer inspection, that she has a thin purple ribbon tied around her neck to match her long sleeve purple shirt. He wonders why she wears something that is hardly noticeable due to the higher collar of the shirt.

"Well, do you think that the guys and I can't pull our weight in missions?" he asks without anger.

"There's no doubt that any of you can't pull missions off seamlessly," she responds more to the table than him.

"You're doing fine. You have nothing to worry about," he says with a smile.

"We haven't done anything yet," she mutters, "I just don't think I should be leading anyone, even if it's unofficial."

"Why is that?" Duo asks, leaning in his chair, "The other women seem to be fine under your order. I know I don't have much of a problem with it. So what's with the lack of confidence?"

"Bad past experiences," she says, glancing at him, "I've made too many mistakes to be in charge of something like this. It seems that I'm only good at saving my own skin. C'mon, let's go to dinner. I don't want Hailey to start eating my food."

She leaves, letting Duo sit over this split second inside view Ally has of herself. He's confused by her. She seems to be opened in conversations, but she also seems to be overly evasive in them. It's then he realizes that he only learned three things about her: she likes hot coco, wears long sleeved shirts and wrist warmers all the time, and she doesn't see herself as a good leader. 02 can see a likeness between Heero and Ally. They both keep themselves closed off in different ways. Ally's just seems friendlier. He begins to think that each woman doesn't have a very neat and tidy past. He figured when he met them that they were brought away from home due to the war. Duo is starting to doubt that accusation.

Down the hallway, Quatre stops Heero before he gets to the walkway. The blonde motion to come in the scrap metal room with him since it's the closest one around. After quietly shutting the door, Quatre gives Heero a slightly concerned look.

"What happened with you and Kit in the control room?"

"We played a social game and I found out a few things about her," 01 replies, "The information is vague. I only know some bare details."

"I'm not sure if I should ask how she got you to play a social game," Quatre says with a laugh, "Or what you found out about her."

"Don't ask about the game," Heero says with a glare, "I found out that she lost her parents some way. She was uncomfortable and sad when the subject came up, which leads me to believe that the experience was very traumatic."

"That's sad to hear," he mutters, "I guess the only way we can learn anything about them is by befriending them. They have an interesting way of using trust."

The brunette man nods in agreement. These women give them trust by letting them stay in the safe house, allowed to view their bending abilities, and by telling them all about the war. It seems that trust can only be place freely in business secrets such as what they do in the war, to a certain degree. Heero isn't going to befriend any of the females simply to learn about them. He finds that a friendship is a very strong bond that can easily be broken. After so many years of being with the other pilots, Heero has come to an understanding of friendship and doesn't blame any of the women for not completely trusting them.

"We had better go back," Quatre says, bringing him out of his thoughts.

Heero opens the door and holds it for his blonde friend.

"This may prove to be difficult," the Arab mummers to his Japanese friend.

"Do you trust them completely?" he rhetorically asks.


	4. Chapter 4

Sat. back with more action! Alright, my internet is a little haywire at the moment, so updates may be slowed a lot. I'm sorry this one is a bit shorter than most. The next one will be longer. In this chapter, the g-boys will learn just how good these five ladies are at pulling disguises off in dangerous situations. Let's see how well the pilots will keep up. I own nothing familiar. It all belongs to the original creators. On wards!

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Chapter four: Fake people

Quatre is lying happily in his warm bed, his head surrounded by a soft pillow. His nerves woke him up a little while ago since today they were to go into the Black Market. He lazily gropes for his wristwatch on the nightstand while trying to find matches at the same time. It amazes him that every place in the safe house has candles and oil lamps instead of electric lights. The command center did have electric lights for obvious reasons. Striking a match, he lights the wick of his half melted candle and finally looks at his watch. 6:30 in the morning. The first meeting is at eight.

Zumi had mentioned the other day how lucky they were that the meeting times were still the same. The women had originally set up the times so someone could always get in. Kit is to leave first so she can "knock" to be let back in. Hailey would be after Kit. Ally would go after and Hana with her, since their meetings almost overlapped each other. Hana would leave before Ally. Quatre gets out of bed, wincing at the cold stone floor. Hailey had warned them yesterday that everyone would be getting up around 6:30 despite the time they were to leave. A knock sounds at his door.

"Come in," he calls.

"You up?" Ally asks, sticking her head around the door, "Oh, good. It seems you're one of the easier one's to wake up."

"Why would you say that?" he asks with a smile. She opens the door most of the way.

"Because, when I tried to wake Heero up, I came face to face with the barrel of a gun," she says with a small grin.

"Yes, that sounds like Heero," he laughs, "May I ask why you're wearing a dress?"

She glances down at her attire. She's wearing a white sundress with pale red flowers as a border at the hem. The dress is sweetheart cut and sleeveless. Also, eye make-up and blush has been adorned on her face.

"Part of the costume," she replies with a shrug and shuts the door with a quiet snap.

She walks down the hallway, her socks muffling her feet and stops at the opened bathroom door at Kit.

"Thanks for the help this morning with the make-up," Ally says.

"No problem," the Waterbender says, continuing with her own make-up.

Ally walks to the next room down the hall a little. She knocks on the door and opens it. Wufei sits up in his bed with disheveled hair, glaring at her. She smirks back a bit and tells him not to go back to sleep. Thankfully, Trowa got up on his own and is already in the kitchen making coffee. Ally stops at the last door, Duo's room. She knocks on the door and opens it. The braided pilot continues to snore a bit; a hand flopped outside of the blankets and a lone foot protruding from the blue blankets. Shaking her head a bit, she walks over to his bed. Briefly, she wonders if she'll get another firearm in the face if she shakes his shoulder.

"Duo," she says softly, rubbing his shoulder, "Wake up."

He mumbles something and turns away from her. Using a match, she lights the candle and sits on the edge of his bed.

"Hey, get up," she tries again, shaking this time.

"Whazzit?" he slurs.

"Mission day, remember?" she says with a smile and barely flicks his ear, "C'mon."

"Yeah, I'm up," he says, sitting up.

She rises as he does and shakes her head. Crossing her arms and jutting her hip out some to lean her weight on one leg, she waits for him to actually get out of bed. Sitting up, Duo swings his legs over the edge of the bed while yawning. Blinking at the Airbender in front of him, he scratches his frizzed hair. She notices that his braid is falling apart.

"I'm must still be asleep," he says in a sleep thick voice, "Your in a dress."

"Naw, you're not having a nightmare," she answers with a snort of laughter, "Get down stairs. Trowa's making coffee. You'll need some."

"How are you so awake?" he asks, yawning.

"I woke up an hour ago. I needed more time to get ready," she says, leaving his room.

He stretches and follows her down to the kitchen where the smells of coffee and eggs rise. His stomach growls loudly and Duo places a hand over it to try and quiet the organ. Trowa hands him a coffee and he sips it without mixing anything in it. Zumi is sitting at the table, eating some freshly made eggs and bacon. Ally sits next to her and places her chin on top of her laced fingers. The Firebender wears a light purple dress that hugs her curves and splays out around her waist.

"Eat something, airhead," the Firebender says without looking at her.

"Yeah, yeah," Ally responds, unmoving, "Hana up?"

"Barely. You know how hard it is to get Waterbenders up."

"What do you mean by that?" Trowa asks, sitting down with his plate of food.

"Firebenders rise with the sun," Zumi explains, "While Waterbenders rise with the moon. I'm a morning person and _have_ to get up when the sun does. Hana and Kit don't want to get up for anything in the morning, but they can stay up until the sun comes up."

"The moon makes the Waterbenders stronger while the sun makes the Firebenders stronger," Ally mutters unthinkingly. She gets up to get some food and tea.

"'Morning everyone," Hailey says, rubbing her eyes, "What's for breakfast?"

"Eggs and bacon," Zumi says with a smile.

"That's an interesting outfit for you, Hailey. Are the streaks permanent?" Quatre asks.

The Earthbender wears a pale yellow skirt that ends at her knees and a v-cut white shirt. Some simple gold bangles and earrings glitter on her person. Her hair has light honey blonde streaks every so often. She shakes her head no and makes herself a plate. Duo mummers something about all of this being a dream with all the women in dresses. Though, he notices that this is the first time he's seen the Airbender's arms and legs and a slightly dipped neckline. He wonders why she doesn't wear things like that at all.

Ally makes a plate for Kit and leaves the kitchen to bring it up to her. She sidesteps Heero on the way out, shooting him a small glare for this morning's antics. He continues by her without any reaction and goes straight for the fresh pot of coffee. Time slowly trickles by. Eventually, 7:30 rolls around and Kit comes into the kitchen where Heero has been looking over his fake information for a while.

"Hey Heero," she greets with a smile, "Are you ready? We need to leave."

"Yes," he responds, glancing at her. He does a double-take at her appearance.

She wears a plain black, fitted v-cut shirt along with a short black skirt and heals. She has a silver band around her neck and long silver earrings on. To separate the black ensemble, she has a silver beaded belt hanging loosely around her hips. Her long black hair is now bright brown and she has bright black eyes.

"What?" she asks slowly, looking over herself.

"Nothing," he says, snapping out of his stupor, "You just look very different."

"That's the idea, silly," she responds with a grin, "Let's go."

They both exit the kitchen and come to the main room where Ally and Hailey wait for them with last minute instructions and items.

"Alright, Kit you know the drill," Ally says, handing her a cell phone, "In and out. Keep it clean and quiet. Heero, I would say don't talk much but you already do that. Weapons will not be drawn in the opened. If you must, sniper or assassin style kills. Don't worry about asking about the supposed rat. I'll ask my connection."

"Here," Hailey says, handing Kit a black handbag, "The usual is in there and some extra mags for either of you. The money has already been delivered. Other than that, stay safe and stay in touch."

"Right," Kit says with a grin. Heero just nods.

Hailey takes her stance and opens the earth wall for the two. The two walk up the stairs, Kit holding a little keychain flashlight ready. The earth shuts Heero stops for a moment due to the pitch darkness while Kit continues. A second later, a thin beam of light comes from Kit's hands. She's already a few steps ahead and she looks back that the Japanese man catching up to her. She reaches into her handbag and gives him a wallet, complete with fake driver's license and a social security card. All of the other guys received this last bit of fake identifications. Heero's was the last to come out of processing. Even he has to admit that they do look very authentic. They might even slip past him.

"What money was Hailey talking about?" he asks.

"We have to make some type of payment to our connections to be able to talk to them. Normally, they like money. We make deals beforehand and ask for exact amounts of the payment they want. This is just a get-together or a conference."

"Where do you get funds if you don't exist outside the safe house?"

"Um," she starts a little nervous laugh, "Actually, we make counterfeit."

"…Are you serious?"

"Um…yeah. It's not like we can get funding or anything."

"How long have you been printing?"

"We got the prints when were all around thirteen-ish and have been making trips to the treasury every time they come out with new ones."

"That's… interesting," he mummers.

"Sorry for not telling any of you," she says with a sheepish smile, "We didn't think you'd approve."

"You mean that you were worried that we would cooperate with you anymore," he replies flatly.

"Bingo!" she exclaims with her index finger in the air.

The couple emerges from the safe house and Heero follows Kit. She loops her arm through his, murmuring it's to look less suspicious. Soon, they come to a subway station and they take a train to somewhere on the east side of town. Coming to the surface, she leads him down a few blocks. She stops at a corner and unlooses her arm from his. Giving him a solid nod, she continues as he keeps stride. She comes to a restaurant called Red Rose Gardens. He opens the door for her and they enter. She immediately walks to a table in the center of the people-less room to man in his mid-fifties. He gets up and greets her with a light hug.

"Ms. Salvador, how wonderful to see you," he says, "Please have a seat and tell me of this young man standing behind you."

"Thank you Mr. Rime," she responds with a smile, "I took your advice and found some hired help. Since that last attempt on my life, I've taken your suggestion very seriously."

"Hmm," Rime says, glancing at Heero, "He doesn't seem like much."

"But I've seen what he can do," she replies confidently, "I also like that doubting quality he gives to other people."

"Well, my dear," Rime says, motioning to a worker, "Let's have some breakfast before attending to business. I assume your hired hand understands the protocol."

"Perfectly," she says with a soft smile.

"The usual for both of us, please," Rime orders the waiter.

The two continue with small talk, while Heero stands silently behind Kit. Soon, the food is brought out on white plates and both of them commence eating.

"Mr. Rime," Kit says, while cutting a small piece of ham, "I'm afraid I'm stripped of time, so I can't stay as long. May we start now, or would you rather after we're finished eating?"

"My dear," he says with a smile, "Tell me your problems while we're eating. I've been in this business for long time to be able to multitask."

"Of course," Kit says with another soft smile, "It seems that my competitor has bolted out of the gate a little earlier than I expected."

"That's not good."

"No. This is why I've asked to see you early. Do you think it would be possible to rush my order before my competitor furthers themselves?"

"Hmmm," he says slowly, placing his utensils down, "Yes, the order can be rushed, but there will be further expenses for such a quick delivery. I assume you want the items as soon as possible?"

"Yes. I know you well enough, Mr. Rime. You are kind and thoughtful, but I also know that you have your own agenda to hold over more important matters. This movement will cause the fee to go up and I know that you will have a deadline for the expenses. Please give me a date and time along with a total."

"Ah, Ms. Salvador," he says with a grin, "You know me so well. Yes, the date would have to be in three day's time at 1:30 in the afternoon in the usual drop-off point. As for the price, it is the same with an added twenty thousand."

"I see," she slowly says, placing her own knife and fork down, "I will have to give you a reply later. I need a consult with my budget, but you should receive a response either tonight or early in the morning."

"I trust your word, Ms. Salvador," he says with a smile.

The conversation turns away from business as the two finishes their food, Heero silent all the while. He notices during their conversation that the waiter who brought the food also had a firearm in his apron. He deduces that some hired help, as Rime put it, are in the back somewhere. His guess is the kitchen.

Soon, Kit makes a smooth close of conversations and they give light hugs to each other as a farewell gesture. The two leave the restaurant leisurely and back down to the subway. In twenty minutes, they come to the deep pond where Heero and the other men were let out the first time from the safe house. Checking her surrounding, she beings to push and pull the water away, making a path for them. They are submerged in bubble maintained by the skinny Bender and they come to a wall of earth.

"Um, Heero?" she says with a skeptical voice, "I need to knock to get us in. To do that, I have to drop the water around us for a moment. I need both my hands."

"Alright," he says with a nod.

She streams some water from around them, and freezes both of their feet to the ground.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

Taking a few slow breathes, she releases the water. They are engulfed in it. He watches her move her arms in a pattern, but sees no reaction to the water around them. Doors appear a moment later and she pushes the water away from them. She also unfreezes their feet. The couple walks into the main room where a grinning Hailey is waiting from them.

"And this is half the reason why I wear black," Kit says as she flicks her arms.

Heero's dark blue shirt sticks to him uncomfortably. He notices the temporary brown hair dye running down her back, showing some of her shinny black hair. She smiles brightly at him and tousles his sopping wet hair.

"You two look like some drowned cats," the Earthbender says with crossed arms.

"Gimme a sec," she says, pulling the water off of herself and Heero with her bending. She walks to the kitchen and puts the water in the used water bin.

"So," Hailey says, catching 01's attention, "How'd it go?"

"He made an offer to rush the order," he says, "But the price has gone up by twenty thousand."

"Not bad," she mummers thoughtfully, "Guess it's a good thing Rime likes Kit."

"Aw, shut up groundhog," the Waterbender snaps behind her with a blush, "The old guy said I reminded him of his daughter. He lost her in a shooting."

The Earthbender, in response, shakes her head with a small laugh. She walks away saying to report to Ally and that she was going to finish getting ready. The two head to the Brain Room where Kit thinks Ally may be. When they enter, they see the Airbender pouring over the records of Markus' buys.

"Hey, Ally," she greets, "We're back."

"Oh," the redhead says, turning in her chair, "How'd it go?"

"No hitches. Rime says the same price plus twenty thousand. I said that he'd get a reply tonight and latest tomorrow morning. He said three days at 1:30 in the afternoon, usual drop off area."

"Alright," she says, turning back to the computers, "I'll put that in to the hypothetical estimation and see what it cranks out to be. Good job, you two."

"Thanks," Kit says with a smile and leaves with Heero behind her.

"Hey, Heero," she says, once the door is shut, "Thanks for everything. It seems that we work pretty well together."

He nods, not really sure how to respond to this positive comment. She walks down the hallway, saying she needed to get this dye out of her hair. He watches her retreating back with slightly confused feelings. This woman, he concludes, is incredibly strange. He glares a bit at the empty air as he walks to his own room. That's the only thing he's been able to conclude and it ticks him off.

Trowa walks by him, sending him a curious glance. The tall man knows when to leave 01 alone and this is one of those times. He and Hailey are to leave soon since Kit and Heero have returned. He saw the said Earthbender around here somewhere. It seems when Trowa needs to find one of the women, he can never find them. He walks into the weapons room and finds Hailey counting magazines out. The scheduled time to leave is 9:30, which is in a few minutes.

"Hello, Trowa," she says, without turning around, "Where you looking for me?"

He nods and she hums a little in responce. She gathers up five magazines and hands him three. She puts the other two in her white handbag, but he doesn't see where the firearm is.

"Ready?" he asks and she nods.

The two walk out, quickly stopping to tell Ally that they are leaving, and come to the main room. The two exit the safe house and on to the somewhat busy street. She mummers to him that the connection that they are visiting is a big flirt and asked him not to get too uncomfortable. He nods, understanding that some men are like that during business transactions.

Two subway trains, four blocks, and thirty minutes later the two tall people arrive at a fashion studio. Hailey takes the lead and walks up the stairs to the third floor office with absolutely no hassle from other people. Everyone in the studio ignored both of them, even the cop that was visiting a friend. Coming to modern looking double doors, Hailey nods to the man standing outside. He knocks briefly on the door and enters before receiving an answer. Mummers are heard through the doors. He reappears.

"You've been expected, Ms. Lorn," he says.

"Thank you," she says and walks in, Trowa trailing behind.

The office is large and has a black and white color scheme. On the brick walls, different covers of fashion magazines are blown up and framed. At the large, black polished desk is the connection. Trowa realizes that warning beforehand was for his benefit in a different way. A woman behind the desk walks up to Hailey in a tight black pinstriped business skirt set. Her long black hair is tied into a bun with ends sticking up in different directions, making her hair look like a black flower. Her pale skin and dark eyes scan over him for a moment.

"Sarah, sweetheart!" she exclaims, enveloping the taller woman in a hug, "Oh, what a terrible thing! Your competitor moving too early; what a shame. Sit down and tell me all about it while you're introducing me to your very handsome friend."

It is he who will be shamelessly hit on, not Hailey.

Hailey sits on in a white armchair, leaving Trowa to defend for himself next to the business woman on the black loveseat. The Earthbender grins and crosses her legs.

"My name is Kylee Newbringe," she says, leaning close to him on the couch, "What is your name?"

"Greg Downer," Trowa responds in a very monotone voice.

"Kylee," Hailey interrupts, "You can steal him after he's learned from me."

"Oh?" she asks turning her attention to her, "You took on an apprentice?"

"Heir," she answers.

"Well, then," Kylee says with some finality, "I'll have to charm him a little later, once he's on his feet. So, what may I do for you?"

"I need to rush the current orders," Hailey says, "What will that cost and how fast can you get it done?"

"Hmm," she says, leaning on Trowa's shoulder. She ignores his tension. "The time won't be that much of a problem. Grant it, I'll have to shuffle some things around, but it's doable. The cost will have to go up some, to compensate my workers in overtime."

"Of course," she says with a smile, "What's the cost?"

"Fifteen grand up."

"Plus the original?"

"Yes."

Hailey thinks a little, lacing her long fingers together. Ally had said that if the required sum was fewer than twenty thousand plus the original price to take the deal and set up a time to make a drop off and pick up. This pause is just for show and she wants to see Trowa squirm a little more under Kylee's affections. He can hide his facial expressions perfectly, but she can feel his anxiety and annoyance through the floor's vibrations. The forward woman leans more heavily on him, as though she's always known him.

"Alright," she says, "Tell me when to drop off the payment and where to pick up the shipment."

"Wonderful, Sarah!" she says, sitting up and clapping her hands together, "Same time as usual and same place for both. I'll have it for you in two day's time."

"Thank you so much, Kylee," Hailey says, rising from her seat, "I'll make sure everything's on time, as always."

"Aw, you're leaving me?" she asks in a slightly whinny voice.

"I'm afraid you're only one stop on my list," the Earthbender says with a grin, "And I don't need you scaring my new guy away until I train him. Scare him after, if you will."

"Sarah," Kylee says getting up, "You always bring me back down to earth. Yes, I do have other engagements to take care of and Greg would be a gorgeous distraction. Allow me to walk you to the door."

"Thank you, Kylee," Hailey says with a smile.

Hailey walks through the held door and Trowa follows after. Suddenly, he feels a hand smack his butt and a muttering of firm from Kylee. He jumps in the air and whirls to a closed door. Hailey chokes on laughter as the tall man turns an odd shade of red. They walk down in silence and every time she would glance at him, she would choke more laughter down.

Eventually, Trowa's face turns back to his natural shade and they enter the safe house. As soon as the doors are shut, Hailey breaks down in hysterical laughter, sliding to the floor. Trowa's face heats up again with annoyance and embarrassment.

"Hey guys," Zumi says from the risen walkway, "What's up?"

"H-he meet K-kylee!" Hailey wheezes out and goes into another fit of laughter.

"That was completely unnecessary," Trowa growls, "You should have warned me."

"I-I did!" she breathes out, "Right b-before w-we got there."

"I thought the connection was a man," he says in a dangerous voice.

"You didn't question the gender?" Zumi asks.

"That's what you get for assuming," Hailey says, calming down and rising from the floor, "I'm going to tell Ally the news. The price was low enough and she accepted."

"Oh good," the Firebender says with a smile, "Then you have to tell me what happened."

"Sure," Hailey chirps and walks away with her.

Trowa rubs the bridge of his nose. Never before in his life has he blushed and he doesn't like it. Now he knows that it takes his skin a long time to return to its original color. Until then, he'd have to avoid the guys. He'd rather delay the inevitable.

"Hey, Trowa," Duo greets from the kitchen doorway.

Damn it.

"Whoa, are you okay?" he asks, "Your face is all red."

"I'm fine," he mutters to 02 and walks away.

Duo looks at him confused. It's until he's out of sight does a light bulb go off in the braided pilot's head. Trowa got embarrassed. He never gets embarrassed. A cheeky grin spreads over his face and he goes up the stairs to find Hailey, since Trowa won't mention anything. He rushes up the stairs and heads straight to the command center. He sees Ally sitting on the chair while Hailey is reporting the good news. Zumi stands off to the side, waiting for something.

"Alright," the Firebender says, "Now that you're done reporting, you gotta tell us what happened."

"Do you mind if I listen?" Duo asks from the doorway, "I have never in my life seen Trowa red before and I may never again." He notices the plain black jewelry on Zumi's person and sees that her ears have a few more higher piercings.

"Sure," Hailey says, "Grab a seat. This will make you laugh so hard."

Duo does as he's advised and takes the second chair next to Ally. He still can't really get over the fact that Ally can sit so comfortably in a dress when she wears jeans all the time.

"Duo," the Earthbender starts, "To bring you up to speed, Kylee Newbringe is very forceful and straight foreword with the men she likes. She's shameless to a certain degree. When we got to her office, she immediately started to hit on the poor guy, calling him handsome and such. Well, I sat in the only armchair in her office, leaving him to sit with Kylee on the loveseat. The irony in that couch's name.

"Anyway, while we conducted business, she used him as a head rest. He was so frickin' tense, he started to make me tense. When we got up to leave, Trowa did the smart thing and let Kylee walk behind him. When we got out the door, she smacked his butt and said firm right before she shut the door. Poor guy turned three shades of red at once."

"Holy shit," Duo says, dumbfounded, "Are you joking?"

"That's Kylee," she responds with a shrug, "Men usually don't do too much business with her unless it's in bed."

A few seconds of silence lingers in the room. Ally slowly turns to the desk, pushes the keyboard back and lays her head down in her arms. Her shoulders start to quiver and soon her muffled laughter is heard. Duo beings to laugh to, sliding down in his chair some. Zumi face-palms while laughing hard. The Airbender lifts her head, showing a very red face.

"Oh my God," Ally chokes out, "We have to have him go back with you! That's priceless."

"Oh man!" Duo says, trying to catch his breath, "I gotta tell the guys."

He stumbles out of the room, rubbing his sore gut trying to find one of the other guys. Instead, he runs into Kit. Her hair is back to normal color along with her eyes. She's also in regular clothing.

"Hey, Duo," she greets, "What's up?"

"Kit, you won't believe what happened to Trowa."

Duo delves into the story just told to him a moment ago and the Waterbender grins maliciously. She thanks him and runs off to find Hana to tell her. Duo takes off in the other direction to find one of the other males running around here. He wants to tell this to at least Quatre before leaves with Hana. He goes to the first place to find the blonde Arab; his room. He knocks on the door hoping to hear answer. He does and enters, closing the door behind him.

"Quat," he says, sitting on his bed next to him, "I got something huge to tell you. What would you say if Trowa blushed badly from embarrassment?"

"I'd have to say you must have hit your head," Quatre says with a laugh.

"Sorry, pal," Duo answers with a grin, "No concussion this time! He really did and I saw his face. This is what happened when he left with Hailey."

The braided pilot begins to retell the story again and waited for it to sink in to Quatre's mind. The blank look on the man's face turns to shock as he asks Duo if he was sure. Once he receives a positive answer, he begins to laugh as well.

"Poor Trowa!" he says, trying to hold back his laughter.

"I know," Duo says with a grin and adds a bit to Quatre's laughter with his own.

Soon, the cheeky pilot leaves to find the other two who haven't heard the tragedy of Trowa. Only ten minutes back and everyone knew about the incident. The delay was from not getting in to Wufei's room and trying to get Heero to listen. Duo did get a chuckle out of 01, though. Duo feeling almost accomplished for the day heads into the main room where Hailey is wishing Hana and Quatre a good trip.

*********(a/n)************************************************************************************************************************************

I just noticed this. Hana hasn't appeared once in this chapter…wow. In apology for leaving her out, since I feel guilty and feel like I offended my character; the next chapter will have a lot of her in it. …Yes, I see my characters as real people at one point or another. It's the best way to write them.


	5. Chapter 5

Sat back, stressed and sick and was in a motivation slump. Wow, it's been forever since I updated. Please pardon this since it's pretty late. I've felt like shit and all that good stuff. Note sarcasm. Anyway, enough with my bitchiness and on with the story. This may get a little…violent but not very graphic. Plus, it has a good deal of length to it. Now a great part dedicated to my very lonely character Hana in this story. She get's first dibs. I own nothing familiar.

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Chapter five: Fake People Continued

Hana pulls her hair into a fixed bun. A sigh releases from her lungs. Luckily, she was able to get some sleep after kicking one of the girls out of her room. She was so out of it; she doesn't remember who came in. Her hair has been temporarily colored pitch black. It's easier to use a color completely opposite of your own. At least, that's her opinion. That way you can see what mistakes were made. Her eyes, instead of the usual bright green were a washed out green that could be considered grey.

Pulling the sweeping side bangs up, she checks for any type of blonde and is satisfied at not seeing any. She straightens her pale blue flair skirt out and fixes her white blouse. Simple, but still able to hide a hang gun under the flared skirt. A small single knock sounds at the bathroom door and she knows its Ally giving her the signal. It's almost time to leave. She slips on her black heels with some practice and exits the bathroom to an empty hallway. It still amazes her how Ally can move so fast but keeps her appearance the same. She supposes it's so many years of practice, that being an understatement.

Hana enters the kitchen where Quatre and Duo are talking at the moment and Ally is doing her best with the white heels she needs to put on. Poor Ally could never really deal with all the feminine accessories of the modern world. Her red purse sits on the table. Hana examines Quatre's choice of a black blazer and a white button up shirt. She must admit that he knows how to dress for nearly any occasion. She can't say since she hasn't known him that long. Duo is wearing something similar but in all black.

"So," Hana says, sitting at the table, "Both of you ready? We are almost the last ones running out for this."

Both men stare at Hana. Duo, shameless to a degree, let's his jaw slack open while the Arab's eyes are just very wide. The Waterbender forms a small grin. This was the reaction she was looking for. If they couldn't recognize her immediately, that means she pulled off yet another disguise.

"Wow," Duo says, "I never could picture with black hair."

"It works," she answers with a small shrug, "and that's important."

"Yeah, it could be worse," Ally mutters with her back turned to the group, "They could do what I have to do."

"What's that?" Quatre asks.

"When I first started this thing, my hair was long and I dyed it blonde," the Airbender explains, "Like your color blonde, Quatre. Made me stand out less and I wanted it blonde at the time. Well, a certain bad incident that almost got me killed made me cut off my hair and I let it go back to its natural color. So I have to wear this stupid thing."

She turns around and presents a long blonde mass of hair. Ally looks at it with heavy disdain and flips it on her head, tucking in her hair. Hana giggles a little at her friend's annoyed face. The Airbender sticks bobby pins where it's appropriate and lightly brushes the fake hair through. Her blue eye makes her look German or American with that blonde wing on.

"You girls are certainly thorough," Duo says, leaning back in his chair.

"When you've been hiding as long as we have," Hana says with a smile, "You tend to be picky. It'll be odd if we never had to do this at least five times a year."

"What about after this war?" the blonde man asks, "Will you come out of hiding then?"

"Use your head Quatre," Ally mutters, checking her hair, "You never heard of benders before and a slip up it too easy. We may do our own thing after this, but we most likely won't come out of hiding. We may just go into a different type of hiding. One's that not so isolated from the world."

"Can you imagine the look on Zumi's parents' faces?" the Waterbender says with a sad smile, "That'll be interesting, to say the least."

"I'm not gonna stop her from going home," she says, taking a seat at the table, "You guys can do what ever you want when this stupid fight is done and over with."

"So," Hailey says, popping her head into the kitchen, "Everyone ready to go?"

"As we'll ever be," Hana answers with a sigh.

The group walks into the main entrance room and Hailey parts the earthen walls, wishing them lucky and to not get shot. Hana and Ally pull out keychain flashlights, once the doors close behind them and the four travel up the rock stairs. The group reaches the top and Hana and Quatre walk to their location while Ally and Duo stay in the broken warehouse for a few minutes.

Hana waves a taxi down after walking for a few blocks and get in. Once Quatre is in as well, she gives the driver the names of a street corner. The blonde decides to casually talk with the Waterbender, who happily complies. She tells him of her hometown and some of her friends. He doesn't know whether to believe this information or not. She may just be performing for the taxi driver. He'll remember the details she gives him, but he won't hold them in high account. After a fifteen minute ride or so, the couple gets out of the taxi, after Hana pays for it and refuses Quatre's offer to pay the driver.

She takes a calming breath and starts down the slightly busy street. It's around two in the afternoon or so and the meeting is set for two fifteen or two thirty. As they continued, the neighborhood gets worse and soon the two are very out of place and receiving glances. No one approaches, but the blonde man is still wary of them. Hana walks through with little care and something that could be considered distraction to a present task or confidence. He doesn't know her well enough to judge.

She turns into a fish shop and goes straight for the counter, while he keeps a few paces behind her as instructed. They all went over the information and proper procedures of these visits a great deal. Luckily, he has the easier part of to just be there at certain parts of the room and to be certain measure behind her at all times. As for shooting if needed, he has down. The man at the counter smiles and walks them to the back. The two come to an intricately decorated and dark room.

Hana takes a seat at a small round table and waits with her back straight and her fingers laced in her lap. He decides that she is both focused and confident and has been since she walked into the kitchen back at the safe house. A few seconds later, a tall and large man in a navy suit walks in, ducking his head under the doorway. She rises with a smile and takes his large extended hand with both of hers.

"Mr. Grand, thank you so much for meeting me on short notice," she says, taking her seat again.

"Not a problem Ms. Smith," the dark haired man says with a grin, "You are one of my better clients. I always enjoy doin' business with you."

Qautre suddenly gets a cliché image of an Italian-American gangster from this man. All that is needed is an Italian dish in front of him. The fish market store they're in kills the image somewhat.

"Who's da shrimp?" he asks, nodding to the blonde.

"Hired help," Hana says with a small, controlled grin, "Nothing to worry about."

"Hmmm," Grand mutters with a critical eye, "If you say so, bella. Now, what can I do for you?"

"It seems that there has been some early movement from the ruff side I'm dealing with," she replies with a hard and cold voice, "You know how long I've been trying to blink their light out and to do so, I need the shipments in earlier than anticipated."

Quatre is taken aback at her harsh voice that nearly mimics Wufei's. He doesn't show any reaction, other than shifting his leg as he stares at the wall in front of him. How can she sound so harsh when she is a quiet and kind person?

"Hmm, that's a bit difficult, bella," he says, leaning back and rubbing his chin. He pulls out a small black book and begins to flip through the small pages. The size of the book looks ridiculous in his large hands. Quatre almost can't see it.

"Is it the payment or the time?" she asks, laying her laced fingers in her lap.

"I have no doubt that you can't pay," Grand says with a grin, "It's the time. The shipment has been time locked and can't be moved. I'm sorry lil' bella, but this is outta my hands. I can't move it any faster."

"I see," she says, looking disappointed at the table.

"I'll put it on priority if it hits any delays. That's all I can do for you."

"That's very appreciated, Mr. Grand," Hana says with a soft smile and rises, "I'll be going. Other errands need to be tended to."

"O'course, Ms. Smith," he says, rising with her and walking her to the door.

"Tell Mrs. Grand that I send my regards," she says and walks out the held door.

The couple walks out of the store and back up the street they came from. Hana keeps her appearance up while Quatre glances at her every so often. They take a different street intersection and pick up a taxi there. Once in the taxi, she assumes a sleepy look and says she is tired to Quatre. He nods back and says that the wedding was a long one.

He figured she likes to change her character every time she gets a taxi ride to shake off possible tracking connections. Conversation about the wedding they just attended is short and quiet. The couple end up at a subway and they take a train, waiting through four stops. Soon, the couple is back in the warehouse and Hana "knocks", after Quatre says the coast is clear. As soon as the two are walking down the stairs with her little flashlight and the earth walls close above them, Hana slaps her palm to her forehead.

"Crap! Naturally, I have the longest time for this order," she mutters while pursing her lips.

"How long is it?"

"Starting today, we won't get this order for another week. This bites," she says in a flat voice.

"Well, we tried and that's all we can do in the end," he says with a comforting smile.

The doors open, flooding their senses with light. Hana easily blinks it off.

"Thanks, Quatre. You're right, that is all we can do," she says with a quite smile, "I'm going to my room until Ally gets back."

"Doesn't sound good," Hailey says in front of them.

"It's not," the Waterbender replies, "No movement in the deal. It's still going to be a week."

She walks to her room, ignoring the Earthbender's mild curses. Once in her room, she removes her shoes. After lighting a few candles in different corners, she looks over her dark blue and light red decorated room. It's amazing that any of them had time to decorate anything at all. Her walls are tacked with pictures of horses, her and the girls, and birds along with other random things. She loves to take pictures and most of these are hers. The desk near the door is covered in different photos she's been working on and a couple of different cameras. It's not hard to make a dark room in here. There is a tacked line of thin rope along a wall and some pans of water.

Hana has always wanted to be a pro photographer, but due to her life and lack of confidence, she hasn't sold anything. That won't stop her from taking pictures. A knock sounds from her door and she rises to answer it. Quatre stands there with a small sheepish smile. He feels intrusive by knocking on Hana's door, but he does have a question for her.

"May I ask you a question?" he says.

"Um…" she says, glancing behind her. She doesn't know if she wants to let him in, but he seems very trustworthy. "Sure."

She opens the door all the way and lets him in. Hana likes to keep some of her stuff clean, like her bed and floor, but any surface is prone to clutter. She takes a seat on her bed while he looks around her dark blue painted walls and photos tacked on them. He takes in what's around him. It's like receiving a clearer picture of what Hana is like. The Arab looks around at all, somewhat distracted by the room and photos until Hana clears her throat.

"Oh, sorry," he says and sits in her desk chair, "Who did all of these? They're extraordinary."

"No, they aren't," she says with a shake of her head, "But I do like them. I don't think other people do, aside from the girls."

"Who took them?"

"Me. Well, most of them."

"Truly?" he asks with wide eyes, "They're marvelous."

Hana sputters a little and blushes. She lights a candle next to her bed to try and distract the rising blush and her mind from his complements.

"What is it you wanted to ask me?" she says in a slightly muted voice.

"I hope you don't mind me asking this, but where do the funds for the B.M. come from?"

Her current discolored gray-green eyes lock onto his dark blue and a nervous look briefly passes. Kit told her that she told Heero how they were "funded" and that he seemed to take it well. Her mind quickly weighs the options of telling the Arab. If the men haven't pulled out yet, she may as well tell him. In the end of it all, there could be worse things to tell him and they're bound to find this little detail.

"In all honesty," she answers with a shaky grin, "We…counterfeit it."

"What?"

"Um, Kit told Heero when they left and he took it well, apparently. I figured I may as well tell you since that information is wandering around," she explains, lacing her fingers again, "We didn't want to tell any of you unless you asked. We were afraid that you wouldn't, well, continue to help us and we still are worried. It's not like we can get funding anywhere and we can't be that well traced with our own money."

"…How can you do it?" he asks with sincere curiosity. He notes that lacing her hand together is a subtle nervous habit.

"You're not mad or anything?" she asks, her head snapping up to him his gaze.

"I understand," he says, smiling at her wide eyes, "We've had to do some illegal things to get our jobs done, aside from the fact that we were terrorists."

A smile broadens on her lips as she says, "Thanks. We stole plates when we were around thirteen and have been doing so when new ones come out."

"Well, I definitely agree with Duo," he says with a laugh, "You women are certainly resourceful."

"I should hope so," she says with a sigh, "Or we'd all be dead."

"Why did you allow me in your room?"

"As odd as it seems, I feel as though I can trust you with a few things. Though, I do have the door opened for a reason aside from finding it slightly claustrophobic in here."

"I suppose you aren't an inside person."

"My element can be anywhere, but I enjoy being outside. Our elements reflect our personalities. Out of all of us, Hailey likes it the most here and Ally hates it. Airbenders don't do well inside stone walls. What about you? Is it manageable down here?"

"Yes, but I do miss the sun," he says with a sigh, "I also don't have my violin to help me pass time."

"You play an instrument?"

"I can," he says with a bright smile.

"Wow," she says, laughing some, "We seem to have more in common than I thought. I play drums."

"That's an odd instrument for you. I wouldn't have thought you would have played drums."

"I know, but I like them. The girls and I used to have a band when we were back on the surface. It was a good way to infiltrate bars when we were underage. Plus, extra money when we couldn't print."

"So, all of you are musically inclined?"

"Yes. I play drums, Hailey plays the bass, Zumi gets the electric guitar, Kit plays piano, and Ally sings. Zumi should be ready to leave by now…"

"Speaking of Ally, when will she get back?"

"Erm," she says, picking up her dark blue alarm clock, "In about ten minutes."

Ally and Duo walk down the somewhat busy street a few minutes after Hana and Quatre leave. Ally can't move as fast due to the heels she's wearing. He hears her quietly curse her shoes and he laughs. That action is rewarded with a light flick on the arm. Walking down the street, Ally leads Duo by looping her arm in his and lightly tugging when they need to turn down certain streets. After a fifteen minute walk, they come to a strip club named Laced.

She knocks on the tinted glass door and waits, letting go of his arm. The two hear someone moving something on the door and soon the lock clicks opened. The Airbender enters with her head held high and her hand near her leg. Duo assumes that her weapon is there.

"Ms. Grey," the buff man says, "Mr. Toll has been waiting for you."

She nods and enters. The man grabs on Duo's shoulder and says that he can't enter. Ally turns to look at him. She gives him the only look Duo can describe near to a Heero look. The braided man didn't think anyone else could pull something like that, but hers is a bit different and more lenient. There is a subtle hint that if you didn't obey her, you'd die. Buff Man releases 02 and slowly backs up to the door. The two continue to walk.

"That was epic," he mutters to her and she just smirks a bit in response.

They walk by a number of people who are preparing to open tonight. The two male bartenders wave at Ally, who raises her hand for a moment and continues. A few of the female waitresses and some random female strippers all lay eyes on Duo as he walks by. He sends a few of them a sly grin, but stays focused. Ally notices his small interaction with the women and does her best to ignore it. She's not sure why she has to put effort into ignoring such little actions, but that train of thought is tedious at the moment.

The two walk into the dark back door and into a semi-long hallway. Walking past closed dressing room doors, they come to the second to last door with Toll's name on it. She briefly knocks and enters when told. A man in his late sixties sits behind a mahogany desk. He wears a black pinstriped suit and has his slivery gray hair pull back without using grease. It seems that since he's been doing that for so many years, his hair doesn't move from that position.

"Ms. Grey," he says rising and motioning to the chair in front of his desk, "It's good to see you."

"Don't lie to me, Mr. Toll," she says with a neutral, small voice and sits, "I know that you're mad that I'm coming in on a day that you open."

"Who is this youngster?" he asks, nodding to Duo.

He moves to stand behind Ally, as instructed beforehand and nods respectfully to the older man.

"Student," Ally says with little interest, "He's proven himself useful."

"What is the issue, Ms. Grey?"

"I apologize for coming at an inconvenient time," she says, shutting her eyes for a moment, "But it seems that I'll need my orders a bit earlier than planned."

"The shipment will hit land in five days time."

"I need it to be sooner. My opponent has moved unexpectedly. You know this, I assume. You've been good at keeping tabs on everyone you deal with, directly or indirectly."

Toll leans on his desk, resting his mouth against laced fingers. His eyes are focused on his desk while thinking her request through. The Airbender waits with a patient face, but a slightly intense look. Duo wonders if she's trying to use intimidation tactics, which aren't working on this man or if this is the persona she made for herself.

"With shifting," he says, leaning back, "I can get the order here in two days. The new price is the original plus 25,000. I need a reply by tonight or I cannot change anything."

"What's the deadline?"

"Eight p.m. The shipment will be at the same place and time."

"Thank you Mr. Toll," Ally says rising, "You're attention is always appreciated."

The two walk to the door, Duo following behind. After grasping the door handle, she stops for a moment.

"Is Mr. Heath in?"

"Yes, he's being entertained in the backrooms. Why?"

"Tell me, Mr. Toll," she says in a dangerous voice, "Has he been in contact with my opponent?"

A tense silence wafts between them and Duo's hand tenses to draw the firearm hidden on his person.

"Heath is that of a cliché character. He has been through many hardships and taken good and bad paths in his life, like every person alive. In the end of it for him, there is a mask with tears and a mask with laughter that works towards the same ambitions."

"To what does the storyteller ask for?"

"Air."

Ally opens the door and walks out without another word. She'll comply with Toll's asking to not be involved and to continue to breathe air. Duo shuts the door and turns to the right to leave, but she turns left. This is deviating from the plan, but he follows her while watching behind them. She walks to the door at the end and enters it. The door leads into other smaller rooms all numbered in a horizontal hallway. The only one in use is number three. It has a tag on it, indicating it's in use. That and another Mr. Buff is standing next to the door. She walks to the door and almost knocks.

"I'm sorry, lady," Mr. Buff Two says, "But the boss is busy right now."

"I know," she says, "But Mr. Heath is expecting me. I needed to make an appointment with him later and since I came here for a different one, he told me to just see him before I left."

A thought clicks in Duo's mind.

"He didn't say anything like that to me," he says, crossing his thick arms.

"Does the brain tell the arms why it does things?" she lightly snaps and glares at him, "It will be for five minutes at best. Besides, if he went in with entertainment, he'd forget to tell you some things. Wouldn't you?"

He glares at her, but moves out of the way. Ally raises her hand towards Duo, telling him to stay out here. She quickly enters and shuts the door. A dark skinned, black haired woman kneels in front of a sandy haired man. The woman pulls away, a trail of saliva stringed on her mouth to where she was. The man, Heath, pulls his lolled head off of the back of the couch with a glare, which dissipates for a moment.

"What the hell are you doing here, Grey?" he spits at her. He doesn't bother to fix his dress slacks and doesn't let the woman up from the ground.

"Come on Garry," she says with an innocent smile, "I can't come and say hello?"

Ally knows that he's always wanted to get in her pants since he met her and has always shot him down. For that, he got pissed and still is. However, he's horrible at hiding his feelings. Ally promised herself not to use his feelings for anything tedious, but this doesn't fall under that category. After all, Toll said that he's a rat and if that's true, she'll have to take care of him and make a smooth exit. Heath eyes her wearily and she stands with all her weight on one leg, letting her shoulder droop. This action lets the strap of her dress slide to her arm and his eyes follow it.

"I thought you wanted me to say hello," she says in a low voice while walking slowly to him.

He says nothing, but has wide eyes locked on her swaying hips. She leans down to his ear, ignoring the woman who's watching her, and lightly breaths on it. His carnal emotions are betraying him.

"Tell me," she whispers, "Have you talked deals with Markus? I've been trying to get his information for months and you're my last hope. I'll do _anything_ for that information."

Her opponent is nameless here and all the other places where transactions happen for the women. It's a safeguard encase they're being double-crossed. Toll may know Markus' name, she's pretty sure of that, but he'd only be able to find that information out on his own accord. Here, the opponents are numbered and put in pairs or one person against two and so on. He takes an audible gulp of saliva caked in his mouth. She has him.

"Anything?"

"Anything."

"Yeah, I know him. I've been trading information about his opponent to him."

Markus is smart and did the same thing the women did. Ally grimly smiles and slowly pulls away. He gave in far too easily. The sincere look he gave her sends thoughts that he's telling the truth. That, and Hailey taught her how to be a walking lie detector like she is. She walks back toward the chair across from Heath, who looks confused. Sliding a hand under her dress, she pulls out a gun with a silencer on it and shoots off two rounds; one for the woman and the other for the rat. Blood splatter on them and behind them. The sound comes out muffled. Her time is short. She had about two minutes to leave the room and five to make it out safely.

Harnessing the hot gun and ignoring the burning, she opens the door and nods to Mr. Buff Two. They walk down the hall and out of the club, with an extra minute to spare. They're lucky to not have to worry about Mr. Buff Two going in that room anytime soon. Duo knows what happened in that room. This Heath guy has been killed. He can tell that she's walking a little more carefully that her firearm was just used and hot. Once four blocks down, they dip into an alleyway, where she nearly rips the firearm off her leg harness.

"Fuck, that burns!" she harshly whispers.

She holds her dress up, revealing her thigh and unfastens the harness. He examines the light burns of the gun on her most inner thigh, ignoring how toned they are. Ally pushes him away gently, telling hi not to worry about her. Using air bending, she blows cool air on the burn and transfers the used firearm to her purse after removing the silencer. Pulling out her cell, she presses the one button and holds it to her ear.

"Forty-eight street alleyway next to the bookstore. Extra clothes, semi-hostile situation. No backup," she says quickly and hangs up.

Duo leans on the wall next to her and waits for her to say something. Instead, she looks sadly at the wall ignoring the burnt flesh. She's not a violent person in true nature, but she knows that's a lie. Taking someone's life is a wretched thing to do, despite the reasons why. What she hates is something a bit more than the action itself.

"What happened in there?" 02 asks.

"Heath was double-dipping," she answers, leaning on the wall too, "He had to be taken care of. You always have to be a bit of a masochist for this job."

"What's wrong?"

"What do you think about life and death? Is it wrong for a human to kill another when animals kill each other for survival all the time?"

"…I don't know. That's why I don't believe in God."

"Then what do you believe in?"

"Myself. During the war, I had to pray to myself because I was the God of Death. I brought it all around me and I knew I could answer my prayers. God hasn't yet."

"And He probably won't. I believe in the Spirits, but I don't put faith and prayers in them. The action of taking a life doesn't bother me. What does is the fact that taking a life is really easy and I can't feel that guilty for it."

"…What do you mean by Spirits?"

Suddenly, a hole opens up next to Duo where a duffle bag is tossed up and the hole closes. Ally immediately grabs it and hands a pair of jeans, jacket and a t-shirt to him, telling him to change and put his braid under the jacket to hide it. Tugging jeans roughly over her legs and she changes her heels for slip-on tennis. A grunt escapes her lips as the material rubs over her burn. She pulls out a long sleeved shirt and tugs the blonde wig off, running her hands over her messy red hair. Snagging all of the bobby pins out of her hair she tosses the purse in the bag, she hands the duffle bag to him.

"Take this and walk down the street. When you come to the first intersection, take a right and go down until you hit a café. I'll meet you there in a minute," she instructs while glancing at the alleyway entrance.

"Don't get caught," he says.

"Never gonna happen," she answers with a grin, "I would say the same, but I don't think it's needed."

He grins back and walks down the street, not looking back. Following her instructions, he comes to a little nameless café and takes a seat outside. He waits for a few minutes, looking around. This is alright to do since he could look like a regular person looking for someone.

"Sorry I'm late, dear," a woman says behind him.

Turning to look at her, Ally brightly smiles at him and he grins back.

"Don't worry about it," he says, getting up and looping an arm around her waist, "Let's go before we're both late."

"'Mkay," she says with a nod and leans her head on his arm.

Soon, they are heading back to the safe house with playful talk and jests. She glances discreetly around her for anyone following. Duo can't see a bit of strain on her face as she smiles or any fakeness in her laughter. He wonders if he was this good at fooling people during the war. Or if he's just bad at reading her. After a few minutes, they enter the broken down warehouse and down the already opened staircase. She drops his arm and walks with a tired pace. Hailey opens the doors with a worried look.

"What happened?" she asks them.

"Heath was selling us out and not knowing it," the Airbender answers with a shrug, "He's been taken care off. The order has been moved and will be here in two days, but I have to try and calculate a 25,000 plus into the budget. Is Hana back yet?"

"She's waiting in her room," Hailey answers.

Ally nods and bends up to the walkway and enters a door. The Earthbender looks back at the ex-Gundam pilot with a weary curiosity and a bit of worry.

"She killed him, didn't she?" she asks.

"Yeah," he says with a sigh, "She also has a burn on her leg from the gun."

"Kit can take care of that," she mutters, "Damnit."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it," she says, walking away from him and into the kitchen.

Ally comes to Hana's opened door and is surprised to see Quatre there talking to her. 04 is the most friendly and likeable out of all the pilots, but that doesn't mean Ally isn't wary of them. She nods to him and asks for Hana to report and where Kit is.

"I'm sorry, Ally," the Waterbender says with her head down some, "I couldn't get it moved. It's still a week away from today. Kit should be in her room."

"That's fine, Hana," she responds with a smile, "I didn't think yours could be moved. Thank you for trying."

"What about Toll?" she asks.

"Two days and a twenty-five grand plus. The rat has been exterminated. It was Heath," she says, leaving the doorway and heading towards the Brain Room.

She sits down in the chair and looks at the sheet with dates and numbers next to them. With a pencil, she adds her own and Hana's to the list. All that's needed is Zumi to talk to her connection and that will be that for data gathering. Bringing up the budget, after typing in her pass codes, she quickly calculates what they may have to make. In all honestly, she's the worst at math but the best at managing money. Zumi checks her math after she does everything. So far, without Zumi's data, they shouldn't dip into the backup funds for at least another thirty grand. Anything higher and the deal will have to be turned down. There's no way to make any amount within a few days without properly checking it. Some are in the process of being made, but won't be ready for another week. Everything looks good at the moment.

"Hey, airhead," the Firebender says behind her, "How'd it go? Rumor has it that you need to get a burn healed."

"Well. Got the time changed and took care of the leak," Ally answers while leaning back in her chair, "I get back and nearly everyone knows I have an injury. Duo must've said something."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, just let me sulk a bit."

"You go on an all out pity party, and I'll kick your ass."

"Whatever, matchstick," she scoff, "You couldn't if there was a comet going by."

"Don't tempt me, airhead," she growls back, "I still owe you from the last fight."

Ally grins at her friend who grins back. Zumi always did have a tough way of cheering her up. Death threats and such. A cough from the doorway catches both of their attention. Wufei stands there with navy blue slacks and a white button up shirt. He'd look good if he didn't look so pissed off. Zumi huffs a bit and readjusts her light purple dress that hugs her curves and splays out around her waist. A matching purse is slung over her shoulder. Her hair has been turned pitch black to match Wufei's and she also has black eyes. They could be related if it wasn't for their skin tone and different body structure. She likes that she's solid and not bony like some other Asian decent girls.

"I suppose we should leave before he pops a blood vessel or something," Zumi mutters to her friend, "Get Kit to fix you, airhead." Ally snorts a bit of laughter and he glares at both of them.

"Don't compromise anything, you two," Ally says with some playfulness in her voice, "I know that both of you understand that, but I'm saying it for good measure. You can flirt with each other all you want when you get back."

"I do not flirt, onna."

"Tch, like you'd know how," the Firebender says with her fists on her hips, "Let's go before we're late."

"You were making us late," he counters.

"I was coming to check up on my friend," she snaps back while walking out the room, "Is that a crime?"

Ally listens to their banter as they make their way down the hall. Shaking her head, she goes back to her numbers. A thought wanders into her head: they fight like an old married couple. Cliché and yet cute at the same time. Needless to say, things have gotten more interesting with the little additions to their underground home. It's not as quiet. She gets up and heads to Kit's room to hear the Waterbender yell at her for getting hurt, again.

"We're going to get there in time, Wufei!" Zumi snaps at him, "I've done this a hell of a lot more times than you. Calm down and try to get that metal pole out of your ass."

"Excuse me," he snips with a dangerous glare, "but I—"

"Save it for later, you two," Hailey says coming behind them, "You've got work to do."

The trio enters the main room and the Earthbender opens the doors for the bickering couple. The Firebender scoffs something in Spanish at the Chinese man and begins to ascend the stone staircase without a second thought. After the door shuts, Hailey shakes her head and mutters something along the line of locking them in a closet until they work their arguments out.

"I still don't understand why you are going to a fight club," he mutters next to her.

"Because my connection owns a chain of fight clubs and he likes taking transactions in his original club," she explains, holding her palm out with a flame on it, "Why does it matter?"

"Women shouldn't be seen at fight clubs or anything like that. They shouldn't be involved with war or violence."

"You're saying this to me, despite the fact that it's in my nature to be in a struggle every so often? It's human nature, in fact. Tell me, if the others and I weren't going to fight, who was?"

"The men that can bend or wish to help."

"Sorry to disappoint to hombre, but most benders left that we know are female. Plus, not many people know about this. That's not a bad thing but I agree that it would be better to have more male benders since they can spread the genes a bit more. However, Lady Fortuna saw it to be different. We fight with what we have. Death and war aren't picky with who is in the middle of it, whether by choice or accident."

The duo emerge at the staircase and they quickly cross the street filled with work traffic. Most people will either be going home or going out to eat, so the traffic is a bit thick. Zumi ends her conversation with Wufei and they walk to the southern end of town. After about a fifteen minute walk, the two come upon a place named Puños de Hierro, El Primer de Muchos

"What does the sign read?" Wufei asks.

"Fists of Iron, The First of Many," she replies and turns to him and a serious and warm look, "Are you ready?"

He nods, ignoring the warmer side of that look and follows behind her. His story is that he's a family relation that has been married in a few times on her mother's side. His mother asked her to teach him some important things about business transactions. They enter the busy place and many fighters, male and female, train in different areas. This is a boxing club. As they continue among the fighting people, Zumi greets a few of them in Spanish. Entering an office, the noise lessens considerably.

"_Ah, Ms. Nuñez," _a short, dark skinned man says, rising from his desk, _"Please, sit down. Tell me what your problem is and who this wimpy boy is behind you."*_

"_Mr. Pescado,"_ Zumi answers with a grin and takes her seat, _"Thank you so much for taking me today. I know that you have a tournament coming up tonight and your time is greatly appreciated. He's a family member married in a few times on my mother's side and he wants to learn about our business."_

"_I don't know, little one,"_ he says, eyeing Wufei, _"He doesn't look up for it."_

"_He is. Please, we're both preoccupied with work so let's conduct business."_

"_Yes, tell me what the problem is."_

"_My competitor has moved and received their shipments. I need to do so as well."_

"_Naturally! Let me see what I can do,"_ he mummers while pulling out a worn brown leather book. After flipping a few pages and checking some things, he nods and jots down some quick math.

"_It's possible,"_ he says with a nod, _"But the price will go up. How soon do you need them?"_

"_Three days at least."_

"_I can deliver them in four for 1,700 and the first price."_

Zumi leans back in silence, mainly for effect. That's a perfect price. Actually a perfect price is no price, but she's not going to complain. Laughing a little in her head that the man behind her has no idea what they're saying, she nods and makes the final arrangements. After a little bit of light conversation, the two leave. The Firebender walks with a happy bounce in her step because the order has been moved earlier and cheaper than what she thought it would be. Wufei studies her happy expression every so often, a little annoyed that she seems to be pleased with dealing in the B.M. The two enter the staircase, which promptly shuts after them.

"Alright!" Zumi exclaims, raising a fist in the air while the other holds a flame, "It got moved! Yes, this makes things easier!"

"Don't be so happy about this," he mutters, "You are dealing with illegal merchandise."

"And so are you," she says with a grin, "Besides, if this will make it any better, the money we use is counterfeited."

"What?!"

"Where the hell do you think we get money? Une doesn't send anything for too many good reasons."

"That's dishonorable!"

"That's survival! There's no time for honor or glory in survival. None of would be here without doing what we have to do. And, after _doing_ things like this for so long, one can't help but be proud at the work accomplished. You seem to forget who and what you're dealing with."

The doors open and Wufei storms from the Firebender. Hailey looks at his retreating back curiously and sends a questioning look to her friend.

"I told him that the money's fake," Zumi says with a shrug, "But, we have a deal with on 17,000 plus original in four days."

"That's good, but you should have waited to get back before telling him," Hailey says, crossing her arms.

"Doesn't matter, now," she answers, "He's involved now and he doesn't seem like the type to drop something this war over counterfeit money."

"Go report," the Earthbender says, turning to go to the kitchen, "Today's main job is done."

"Right. Besides, it's not like I told them about the big bad secret we have here."

"They find out eventually," she says over her shoulder, "They're not stupid in the least bit."

"And sometimes that's a damn crying shame."

* * *

A/N: Man, I'm here yet again! The star just means that they're talking in Spanish and I don't feel like translating. Besides, it wouldn't be that good. I'm just saying this, you know, in case no one noticed it. Woot! Look at that! 26 pages!


	6. Chapter 6

Sat. back and in a bit of trouble. My laptop, Howard, just died a little while ago and now I have a different laptop, Howard the Second. I shall prevail! Does anyone know where a place called Latvia is at? I've got no idea, but I got some love from that area. This chapter is dedicated to my deceased laptop for all the years he put up with my shit and it's rebirth to deal with more of my shit. Anyway, some hard stuffs going to go down and you readers are along for the ride. Tell me what you think of the five ladies I created? Think the G-boys can handle them? Let's find out. I own nothing familiar.

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Chapter Six: Three months later

Three months have passed and Wufei is still not used to living with women. It amazes the man that Quatre was able to live with twenty-nine sisters. He can barely handle five. He's done his best to avoid awkward situations, but that's nearly unavoidable when one bathroom is ruled by women. After a month Hailey finally created a separate bathroom big enough for the guys to have. For that, the Chinese man is very thankful. What had set off a louder demand for one was one particular incident that occurred only a week ago. Wufei had walked in on Zumi dressing after taking a shower. No more needs to be said other than Wufei isn't a crisp and the wall parallel to bathroom door is blackened. Wufei locked himself in his room, meditating, and trying to burn the image from his mind for nearly two days. He was given a harsh reminder that he is indeed a male and that Zumi is nice to look at.

In fact, that's what the young man is doing now. He sits lotus style on the floor of his room. Since moving in with these women, he's needed to do this more often. Wufei thought handling Duo by himself was bad enough. As Ally said a few weeks ago, it could always be worse no matter what, whatever 'it' is. He admits there is some wisdom in those words, despite their cynical view. Taking another deep breath, he lets his mind float away from reality and thoughts. Funnily enough, he has seen Zumi mediate more than once, though she was in front of candles. With each breath, the candles shrunk and grew. She never noticed him. When he asked, she said that fire bending was all about breathing and control.

_"Fire is an unpredictable and wild element," she says, handing him a cup of tea, "If the wielder doesn't have control over their mind and body, the fire will be sporadic and dangerous. A well trained person is dangerous, but an untrained person is more dangerous, including to themselves."_

As much as he hates to admit it, he recognizes the discipline Zumi has. Actually, all of the women have a great deal of discipline. While fire is the wildest element, the others are no less easy to control. He, along with the other ex-pilots, has noticed what each woman must do to keep their elements moving. Hana and Kit have to keep a constant smooth rhythm and a constant tempo, which is difficult to change while holding on to the water. The two women present a great ability to multitask the change and hold.

Earth needs a hardheaded bender with enough strength. Hailey is certainly hardheaded enough. The bender needs to balance the strength with the hard will or the earth will fly wildly or not move at all. Air is a very odd element. It seems to be a strange mix of all the elements except for earth. Ally has to deal with the sporadic nature, tempo and rhythm, and strength. The only main difference is the fact that air interacts with her entire body a little more than the other elements, shooting her up and moving her around in other locations. This means that she has to be more in tuned with her element to make sure she won't crash into anything. The women had already categorized the men into elements a few weeks ago in a conversation after dinner. They said that if they were ever to be benders, they'd most likely fit the men very precisely.

_"I'm telling you," Kit says with a held up finger, "Quatre is a straight Waterbender. Look at him! It nearly radiates from him."_

_"An Arab is a Waterbender?" Hailey asks laughing, "Well, I've heard stranger things. At least he has the blue eyes for it."_

_The said man laughs along with a few other people. They're sitting at the dinner table after making another visit to Howard. The women checked on their "surprise" while the ex-pilots visited the old man and Duo installs a stealth cloak on their temporary suits. The women said that their suits were to be moved to the safe house in two days or so. _

_"Blue eyes?" the Arab asks._

_"It's been recorded that Waterbenders of Old had dark tanned skin, dark hair and bright blue eyes," Hana explains, listing on her fingers, "Each bender looks different. Firebenders would have pale skin, jet black hair and gold eyes while Earthbenders would have brown hair mostly, medium colored skin and green eyes. Air benders had brown black hair, medium skin and gray eyes, though the monks were bald."_

_"That's interesting," Trowa mummers, "It would be difficult for people to hide in other nations."_

_"Yeah, but I still stand by my statement on Quatre," Kit says with a firm nod._

_"Really?" Duo says with a challenging look, "What would I be?"_

_"Air," Ally says before anyone else, "You are like me; evasive, sneaky and very hard to catch. A bit of fire too, since you seem to get angry every so often."_

_"Are you calling me a sneak?" he retorts playfully, "and when did you see me get angry._

_"Yeah and I think your other pilots could back me up," she replies with crossed arms and a smirk, "and when those guys that Howard had install the cloaking devices in the suits."_

_"Agreed," Heero adds, sipping his coffee._

_"Look at that," the braided man cries, "My own best friend betrays me! Heero, you've shot me! And they were doing it wrong and with crappy equipment."_

_"Careful," he says, "I might literally do it instead."_

_"Nah, ya haven't killed me yet," he answers with a grin._

_"Well, Trowa is either air or earth," Hana pipes in, cutting off some of 01 and 02's banter._

_"Aren't those direct opposites?" Trowa asks, putting his drink down._

_"Yeah, but you can act like either one of those," she reasons, "You seem to be a hybrid. It's a tossup what you could actually bend."_

_"I agree with that," Quatre adds, "You seem to be able to be either."_

_"Hey, what about Heero?" Duo asks, "What would he be?"_

_Each woman looks at each other and to 01. _

_"Um, I'd have to say earth," Zumi says, "He's very collected and very hardheaded. He definitely won't back down from a fight unless the circumstances are _very_ unfavorable. He could be all four, but he's mostly earth. Hey, he could be an Earthbender Avatar!"_

_"Man, they nailed you," Duo comments to the Japanese man._

_"Wufei is fire, without a doubt," Ally says, "He's pretty hardheaded, but he's more hotheaded."_

_"Excuse me," he asks with a glare at the Airbender. She smirks at him with a quirked eyebrow._

_"Do you deign it?" Zumi asks with a grin, "Because you're getting a bit ticked now. You're temper is almost as bad as mine."_

_"A match made in heaven," Kit says with a fake dreamy voice, leaning on Hailey._

_"Aw, shut it water sprite," she says with a flat look, "You know this man's afraid of females. It's amazing he's still alive."_

_"Excuse me?" he says again in a dangerous voice, "I'm just fine, thank you."_

_"Well, it's obvious you never had sisters," the Firebender says with a flat voice._

Wufei breaths deeply one last time and dismisses that memory. Wasn't this supposed to be relaxing and supposed to burn most of the memories from his mind? He defeated that purpose, or rather the women did. Actually, just Zumi. He can handle the other women, especially Ally. At least that particular woman leaves him alone for most of the time. A polite knock comes from his thick stone door. He rises to answer it and is surprised to find Zumi standing there with a smile. She wears an old T-shirt and shorts. Her thick hair is tied back and her arms behind her back.

"What do you need, onna?"

"A sparring partner," she answers, unfazed, with a grin, "The girls are busy and, well…I sort of figured you'd like to or something."

"You're going to shoot fire at me?" he asks flatly, crossing his arms.

"Hey, do you not notice the shirt?" she replies, gesturing to the material, "I'm mean without bending. Had to learn to fight without fire before I could mess with fire, silly."

He processes the offer. He really doesn't have anything to do aside from burning memories and that wasn't working. For some reason, things have been very quiet and that's setting everyone a bit on edge. The Firebender must either be bored, desperately bored, or edgy since she's asking Wufei to fight without bending. The benders don't have much opportunity to use their abilities and nearly bend every ten minutes a day. On a strange note, Hailey and Ally are always off training by themselves. He assumes that's where they are now since the Earthbender enjoys a good fight as much as Zumi. The question is why those two always spare. Ally does one-on-one combat with all of the women, but spends a good deal of time with tallest woman.

"C'mon, I know you want to get back at me for these few months," she taunts smirking, planting her hands on her thick hips, "and I know that you're bored."

"Fine," he answers, coming out of his room.

The two walk into the main room, where it is empty expect for the torches flickering on the walls. Zumi comments on a few things every so often as she checks the torches. She rattles off about food, the torches she's dealing with at that moment, some places she'd like to visit and asked him if there was anywhere he'd like to go. He, of course, doesn't answer any of her questions or comments back. He wonders why this strange woman is trying to start a conversation with him at all. He had always been under the impression that she never liked him enough to be this civil.

"Ah, well," she says with a sigh, "Guess I'm being a little talkative, huh?"

"Perhaps."

"He speaks!" she says, dramatically throwing her hands up, "Praise God, it's a miracle."

"Onna, you're pushing what patience I have," he growls at her with a glare.

"Not my fault you've got no sense of humor or a lot of patience," she mutters, "I was trying to be nice by making conversation, but I guess that's a bit useless since you don't really like me."

"You asked me to spare," he says with a flat voice, "Not to have a conversation."

"Touchy," she answers and takes a loose stance.

He tries to name the stance she takes, but it seems to be a mix of classic kung fu and shorin-ryu, a mix of four types of karate from Okinawa. This odd combination makes the Chinese man wary as he takes his own Dragon clan style stance. The two size each other up, which was something he wasn't expecting. A small smile is placed on her lips as she studies his serious and calculated expression. He can see her shoulders lift with each breath. They slow with each breath and become longer. Since she has time to focus, Zumi decides to take full advantage of the wait. Becoming impatient and curious, Wufei makes the first move, executing a thrust that is easily blocked. A shadow of a smirk flits over his lips. Yes, this will be interesting.

A flurry of fists and well aim kicks explode from both, Zumi taking the offensive first. Neither makes a first hit as they begin to move faster and time grows. Zumi begins to feel slivers of frustration as sweat begins to soak her neck. It's like he can predict everything she does, every turn, twist, kick, punch. The positions switch and she works faster to block his accurate and painful hits. He hides his own frustration as he pushes himself to move faster. It shouldn't be this difficult to break through, especially a woman's defense that is holding her abilities back. Bruises begin to form on her arms and she can see some on his arms as well as sweat. There is one advantage she has. Where she lacks in strength compared to him, she compensates in one other area.

Kicking her speed up, she tries to slip quietly into his ring of offense. Dodging one punch, she dips under his arm, holding it and pulls him to her own waiting fist. He counters by trying to kick her neck, which she blocks and twists away from his range. He's unsure how she was able to move away from him in such an odd holding. It seems as though she appeared to that side of him. Zumi makes a mental note to thank Ally for teaching her to be evasive. Though, she is throwing a good deal of energy away by not using some of the best sequences she has. Then again, they are still sizing each other up.

They each take a short break, breathing heavily and eyeing each other. After a moment, they rush at each other again, trying to find holes in one another's defense and offense. In the end of it, Zumi locks her arms around Wufei's, trapping him. In return, he locks his legs around hers. Each try to overpower each other and Zumi can feel her strength giving out to his. He has better upper body strength than she does, but she has better leg strength. How cliché.

She breaks from his legs and uses her current momentum to throw Wufei over her shoulder and to the floor. He catches himself by nearly doing a backbend, but finds himself in a bad position. He can neither defend nor fight against her. Dropping to the floor, he flips her on her back and quickly moves away from her as a fist flies down to him. She rolls up to her feet. He won't admit that she almost had him. That move was truly unexpected. She considers his drooping shoulders. Taking an inventory of damage, she can feel her own strength leaving her. With a laugh, she puts her hands up and grins. He blinks in confusion, but drops his stance, noting how tired he is.

"Seems we've met a stalemate," she explains, "I know that you're at least as tired as I am. I haven't been that challenged in a long time. You almost got me!"

"I'm certain that we never landed a true hit on each other," he comments, wiping his brow.

Her grin brightens. That's as near of a complement as she'll get and she's taking it. He won't say that she did meet him evenly, but that was something! The two look up to clapping coming from the walkway. There is Kit, Hailey, Duo and Quatre all applauding the two below them.

"Congrats, Wufei!" Kit says with a grin, "You're one of the few that can keep up with the matchstick. You should get a cookie or something."

"Are you kidding?" Duo asks her, "She deserves a cookie. I haven't seen anyone keep up with Wufei like that before in my life! And the few that had are, well, not really around to talk about it."

"Neither of you made hits on each other, huh?" Hailey questions with a quirked eyebrow.

"Nope!" the Firebender answer with her own grin, "I know that I've only got bruises on my legs and arms. Only God could help me land a hit on him and He wasn't with me. I'm done for physical training for the day. I'm very tired and in need of water. How long were you guys there?"

"About the time you started. If you'd like to know, you were both fighting for around five minutes. Its lunch time, anyway," Kit says, leaning on the bar, "I suppose we should make some lunch. It's Hana's turn to cook, so I'll go get her."

"Five?" Zumi echoes, "It seemed shorter. Guess that explains why I'm so tired."

"It did seem shorter," Wufei agrees. Time had to of speed up on them.

"Yeah, we need to pull the airhead out of the Brain Room," Hailey says, going to said room, "She'll forget to eat if we don't remind her."

"Suppose we'll wait in the kitchen," Zumi says, heading towards that place, "I need water, man."

Duo walks off to the Heero's and Trowa's rooms to tell them it's lunchtime. Wufei follows the Hispanic woman and catches a cold water bottle tossed to him. He supposes that his assumption about the Airbender and Earthbender was wrong. She leans on the fridge and down almost half of the bottle. Wufei takes a seat and sips his water even though he'd like to down it as well. He has too much pride for that and yet, as prideful as Zumi is, she doesn't seem to care that much. Is she trying to open up to him and be friendly in a genuine way? the Chinese man wonders. Those thoughts are cut out when he hears Ally's screech and her yelling something as Duo skids into the kitchen. He hides behind Zumi, who gives him a confused and accusing look.

"Duo, I'm gonna fucking kill you!" Ally yells from the kitchen doorway, "Get the hell away from the Firebender and face your death!"

"I'm not that stupid!" 02 yells behind his shield.

"Obviously you are!" she yells back, wringing her black long sleeved shirt out as it drips water, "Pouring a water bottle on me while we were walking down the hall was not smart! C'mere so I can kill you!"

"You were in such a stupor, I had to do something," he reasoned with a scared grin, still cowering behind a short Zumi.

"Sorry, man" the Firebender says, moving out of the way, "You're on your own with this one."

She takes a seat next to Wufei, and leans over to him.

"Five bucks says she'll catch him," she whispers.

"Deal," he says and they shake hands.

Duo feints right and she moves left, closing in on him. He ducks under her grasping hands and breaks for the open doorway. Before he could get ten paces to it, Ally was there, wet red hair flared in the air as she grabs his shirt and whacks him hard upside the head. He whines in pain and the unfair use of air bending while clutching his head. Wufei says he'll give Zumi five dollars with a grumble about Duo being weak and slow. The redhead mutters curses in different languages under her breath as she exits the kitchen. Kit, Hailey and Hana are hanging on the doorway, laughing or trying not to.

"Shut up!" Ally yells at them and continues out.

"Duo, you truly have a death wish with that woman," Wufei comments and sips his water.

"Yeah, but you didn't see her," he says, sitting in a chair and rubbing his head, "It was almost like she wasn't even aware of this plane of existence or something."

"That's Ally," Hailey says, done laughing for the moment, "She's always been a bit on edge ever since we've known her."

"Well," Hana says stretching her arms, "I suppose I'll make something for lunch."

* * *

Heero wanders down the hall where the women's rooms are lined. These five are still enigmas to him and no doubt to the other men. After that twenty questions incident, Kit had done a sufficient job avoiding him. She did it subtly and made sure not to be alone with him. Naturally, he tried to insert himself into a conversation with her, but that is a weakness of his. One that he doesn't like to admit out loud and not very much in the confines of his mind. The beginning of this month is the only time where she allowed herself to be alone in the same room as him. This made him hopeful of gaining more information, but Heero knew, and still does, that he could scare her away for good. That puts him in a standstill until further notice. Being forced into this position annoys him, but 01 knows how to be patient when needed. In truth, he still doesn't quite understand emotions and women are a bit freer with theirs…supposedly.

Quatre had given him advice. Something about seeing the way Kit sees things. Heero understood the merit in that advice, but there are two reasons why he can't follow it: one is that he doesn't truly know Kit that well and two; Heero has trouble with his own emotions. This is something he freely admits because he can understand why. It seems that these women that wish to hide intentions and still blend in pick and choose which emotions to practice and expose. This leaves him unsure where to put Une, but that's another matter to deal with later.

Suddenly, sounds of a piano reach his ears. Kit's door that is at the end of the hall, etched with her full first name in the stone, muffles the noise within. Heero stands and stares at the door that holds the soft and sad music. He was wondering where she disappeared to after lunch. The memory of her fingers playing over the space below the keyboard in the Control Center flashes in his head. That was the day of the twenty question incident. His assumption was right. An electric bass guitar sounds with a low minor pitch, adding a bit of eeriness to the piano. Quatre had informed the five that the women were musically inclined, but he didn't stay to listen to what they play. At the time, it seemed trivial and he supposes that it still is. The music stops and he decides to knock on the door.

"Come in!" Kit calls throw the stone.

Heero enters to see Hailey and Kit giving slightly surprised looks. Kit sits at a black baby grand piano while Hailey removes the red and green designed bass from her shoulders. 01 understands why they look somewhat surprised. By coming in to Kit's room freely, he's putting himself out to be social by his will. He hides his wince and comes more into the room while concentrating that she let him in.

"What's up, Heero?" the Waterbender asks.

"I was wondering who was playing," he answers honestly.

"Oh, uh, okay," she answers back hesitantly, "Hey, Hailey. Do you think we should have a music day or something? We haven't had the time to play together in so long and it seems we've got time now."

"Don't know," the Earthbender answers, placing her instrument in a stand, "We'd have to convince Ally and Hana that we do have time right now. It'd be nice to play again."

"Well," Kit says, stretching her arms over her head, "Go find Hana and I'll find Ally. We got to convince those two first. Zumi won't be much of a problem even if she is tired from that scrap earlier with Wufei. Could you get her since she's along the way to Hana's room?"

"Alright, I'll find them," she answers and walks out of Kit's room.

"Heero, do you know where Ally ran off to?"

"No."

"It's going to be hard trying to find her," she comments, lightly running her fingers over the keys, "I suppose I should go. Don't do anything…well; just try to stay out of my stuff. I don't think I can tell you not to."

She rises from the piano bench and leaves the room, leaving the door wide open. Needless to say, 01 is very surprised that she left him alone in her room with no one here at all. He supposes it's a test of trust and something else he probably doesn't know. The walls are lined with different posters and some picture frames of different backgrounds. For respect, he will refrain from sifting through her belongings, but he will look around at the pictures. Walking around the wall, the posters range from musicians to mythological creatures. The pictures are of the other women through the years and of a few landscapes.

The photos are all very good and have a particular personality and strange sense to them. Coming to her black nightstand, he picks up an old cheap wooden picture frame. It's all of the women as teenagers, maybe younger. Zumi and Kit are grinning at the camera while Hailey has a smug smile. Hana has a soft and sweet smile while Ally has a small and content smile on. Even then, they seem to have an experienced composure. Far too experienced for their age. Then again, Heero muses, someone could say the same comment to the pilots and himself when they were still active Gundam pilots. A small tug at the corner of his lips tries to make him smirk.

"That was our first picture together."

He turns to look at Hana. Heero places the frame down, trying to ignore the fact that he looked guilty of snooping around Kit's room.

"We met about five years before that photo," the Waterbender explains, walking next to him to see said picture, "Before, the few caretakers we did have wouldn't let us take pictures of each other since they were worried that our…heritage would get loose and someone could trace us. Of course, we were young teens when this was taken and we thought we were on top of the world. Kit get's to keep this because she did pay a random person with an instant camera to take a picture of us and the frame. It's a wonder it's still in one piece."

01 doesn't know what to say, so he keeps his silence. Nostalgia playing on her features, she takes a seat on Kit's black and red comforter.

"C'mon, Ally, it won't kill you!"

"This is ridicules," Ally mutters, as she's being dragged into the room by Kit.

"We haven't had a music day in for-frickin'-ever! C'mon, we have time and you owe me one!" Kit reasons with a slightly pouty face.

Looking at her face, Ally gives a half smirk and sits against the leg of the baby grand. Kit grins in response and resumes her seat at the piano. Soon, Hailey comes in with a disgruntled Zumi. The Firebender mutters about being woken from her nap. Hana begins to set test her drum set placed in the corner next to the piano. She likes to use the wall as a backing when they do a slow song. Zumi and Hailey begin to set up their own guitars and a knock comes from the doorway. Quatre and Duo stand waiting to be let in.

"Hey, guys," Kit greets, "Come in. What's up?"

"I invited them," Hailey answers for them, still tuning her instrument.

"Oh, well make yourselves at home," she says with a grin.

"Thank you," Quatre says with a smile and takes a seat on her bed along with Duo.

"Dinner and a show," Duo comments with a grin.

"The songs we practice are mostly oldies that no one really remembers," Zumi explains, slinging her instrument over her, "There are a few that we made, but nothing much."

Hailey connects their two cords to a small amp and slides a pedal towards the yawning Firebender. Small pounding comes from the blonde Waterbender and the Earthbender plays a cord. The Airbender hums in scales to warm up her voice and readies to project it. The dark haired Waterbender stretches her fingers with a thought full look and begins to play a soft and quite tune. The men don't recognize the melody. Ally shoots her friend knowing look and shakes her head. The other women grin as Kit crescendos her minor tone. Hailey's bass slides into the rests Kit takes at certain places. After a few measures, Zumi strikes in, holding the single forth minor note. The piano, bass, and electric guitar hold their notes, creating a three tone harmony. Hana slams in with the bass drum and a snare. The other three instruments join in and a strong major note is held, then decrescendos.

"Watch me fly and watch me fall," Ally starts out in an E key, "Tell me, can you see people clawing the wall? Can you feel it coming down? It's becoming louder in my head. It makes the world bleed out in attempted suicide."

"Watch me fly," the other women join in, expect for Kit, "Keep me from falling over the edge, say you'll save me from my mind."

"I can feel it, my insanity drips over my veins," Ally sings in a low note, "It roots itself over my will. Please don't let them give me a miracle pill created for fallen angels."

"Watch me fly. Keep me from falling over the edge, say you'll save me from my mind."

"They whisper purple dreams that won't dance with me. The looks you give make them wither with washed out hope. In my dreams you fall and I cry."

"Can you bring me back?" Hailey sings in a deep alto voice holding her last note.

"Would you save me from my mind?" Zumi chimes and hold her own note.

"I may have lost my sanity, but I still love you." Ally quietly sings.

Hana and Kit break the sad harmony with a ruff drum sequence and Kit playing the introduction again. The tempo slows and the guitars crescendo slowly into the decrescendo drums and piano.

"Watch me fly and watch me fall. Tell me, can you see people clawing the wall? Can you feel it coming down? It's becoming louder in my head."

"Watch me fly. Keep me from falling over the edge, say you'll save me from my mind."

The refrain is repeated as Ally sings, "I may have lost my sanity, but I still love you. Save me."

"Watch me fly. /I may have lost /Keep me from falling/ my sanity, /over the edge, say you'll save me/ but I still/ from my mind. /love you."

"Say you'll―"

The music abruptly stops, leaving the men dazed with the intricacy of the women's combined efforts.

"Come in here, Wufei," Hailey calls with a grin, "You make me nervous acting like a stalker outside the doorway there."

The caught man sulks into the doorway with a scowl.

"Glad you could join us," Ally greets smiling, "Do you want to take a seat?"

"I'm fine, thank you," he curtly answers.

"When you were on the surface, "Quatre asks, "What was your bands name?"

He wonders how Ally was able to project her voice over four instruments, but decides to leave that topic for another day.

"You're probably going to think it's silly," Hana says with a shy smile, fiddling with her sticks.

"C'mon," Duo responds with a grin, "We won't laugh or anything."

"_Femme fatale_," the redhead informs, "We are all girls and we figured we should have something that kind of fits. I'm not sure if there was another band with that name."

"Dangerous women with deadly looks and destructive talents," Trowa mutters to the Arab.

"It fits," 01 says with crossed arms, "Did you compose that?"

"Aw, man, when did we write that?" Zumi asks her ebony skinned friend.

"That was one of the first ones we made," Hailey answers rubbing her neck in thought, "I think we were about fifteen or sixteen then. It sounds like it was written by a couple of angst-y teens."

"Well, angst-y or not," Zumi says with a grin, "Let's play some tunes. I'm defiantly awake now!"

The women play a few more songs while the men continue to listen. After an hour or so, they stopped playing and some of them left. Zumi and Quatre hang around as Kit kept playing pieces she composed or just few random well known tunes. Pretty soon, everyone leaves to take care of what they needed to. Heero and Kit are the only ones left. Kit keeps her back bent over the keys, her pitched black hair draping over her shoulders and between her gliding wrists. 01 quietly listens to the Waterbender playing a swirling, liquid melody. He leans back on the free stone wall parallel to her bed, shutting his eyes. The piano's sounds wrap around him, somewhat lulling him to sleep. This makes the ex-pilot nervous that something so simple is disarming his senses, but does nothing to break out of the trance. It feels as though he can't.

"My parents."

He snaps his eyes open.

"That's…a particularly sensitive subject. We all have things we don't want to take about. When I feel I can trust you, Heero, I might tell you. Please stop trying to find out information about my past. We'll tell you guys what we want when we feel we can. None of us ask you about your pasts."

"…So you knew," he mutters.

"I may act a bit excited and ditzy," she says, continuing to play with a grin, "and I am ditzy somewhat. Don't doubt my abilities, sweetheart."

"Hn," he says with a small smirk.

He found someone that can pin his movements. The only ones that can do that are the other pilots. What a bit of entertainment that makes him very uneasy. She continues to play her sultry, water melody. He feels that lulling sensation washing through him again and lets it happen, strangely in a comfortable safety nook. This has never happened before and red lights are flashing somewhere in his mind. Am I losing my training? he wonders, Why is this happening?

"I don't really remember them," she says over her playing, pulling it into a decrescendo to talk, "But…it's my fault that they aren't here."

"Describe 'here'," he says.

"Among the living," she quietly says, leaning over the keys more. Her back hair creates a deep shadow around her frame.

"Would you tell me what happened?"

"Word got out of what I am," she answers with a shrug, as the piano gets louder, "They found where I was and my parents were killed. It happens, as much as I hate to say it."

"How is that your fault?"

"Don't ask a question you know the answer to."

"It wasn't your fault."

She stops playing, letting her fingers press the keys down in the last cord. Her back straightens. An empty look fills her semi-round face, eyes half-lidded. She raises her fingers from the keys, cutting off the tapped cords. Raising her eyes, the woman shakes her head.

"It was and it still is and always will be," she says with a cold voice, "What happened that day is something…that you most likely won't hear about. It hurts."

He says nothing, but his mouth draws into a thin line. He wonders how she can say something hurts in a frosted voice. Is that her way of coping or smiling and laughing all the time? A smile pulls onto her lips, a warm and small one.

"I suppose I kind of soiled your mood, huh?" she asks for a laugh, "Sorry about that."

"Thank you for telling me," he says, getting up, "If anything, you made my day a bit better by telling me some facts about you."

"I expect some in return," she replies with a bright, joking grin.

"Take an I.O.U.," he answers with a small smirk.

"Deal," she answers with a brighter grin.

An alarm rings though out the safe house, and the two occupants look at the doorway where Zumi skids to a stop.

"Guys, code yellow," she informs the two, running back out.

"What's code yellow?" Heero asks, getting up with the Waterbender.

"One of our bases is being attacked," she answers, grabbing his wrist, "We have to help.

They run out of the room and to the Control Room.


	7. Chapter 7

Sat finally back with another chapter. Things are a little less hectic and I'm getting back into the swing of things again, so let's see how long this will last. I'm very sorry for the long awaited update, if anyone is still reading. In the previous chapter, there was a code yellow alert and the gang's about to get some serious action. Let's see what happens in this one. I own nothing familiar.

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Chapter Seven: How to Take a Mobile Suit Down

Ally's hand blur over the keyboard, switching her attention to different monitors every other minute. The Airbender doesn't seem to take notice of the other women around her, waiting for orders. What Ally is attempting to do takes a good deal of concentration on her part. She's trying to retrieve the S.O.S message sent to trigger the alarm. It was fried before the characters made it. Finally, she stops and pulls a small document on the main screen that only has a few lines on it.

"Alert," she reads, "We're under attack by a small brigade sent by Markus. We're unsure of the numbers but there are at least two suits. Requesting help from Origin Unit. Our current location is the Western Fence. We have been infiltrated fr―. Time sent: two minutes ago."

She leans back in her chair and laces her fingers. There are so many things to do in so little time. Ally supposes it's time to show what she is worth, even if she thinks it's only a little.

"Suit up, ladies," she orders, spinning in her chair to face them, "I want ETD in three minutes."

The women nod and rush off, leaving the five males surrounding the door a little befuddled. Ally comes out of the doorway and studies each of them for a good second. After considering them, she nods to herself.

"Heero, Wufei, get your suits up and ready. Duo, Trowa, and Quatre, come with me. We'll meet you two in the lower hanger."

Ally quickly walks in the direction of the other ladies while Heero and Wufei go to the lower hanger. Hailey created it when the suits were moved in after the last upgrades of the Ares mobility unit was paid for and put in. Going into an unnoticed room, Ally beings to toss articles of clothing at each of the males, instructing them to put it on quickly and to grab a mask. She joins the other girls in the room next to where the guys are and begins to dress in an identical black body suit. She tugs her short hair up and twists it to shove her black skullcap on and grabs a staff of some kind. Hailey twists her usual braid into a bun and uses thick pins to hold it in place.

Hana pulls her own skullcap out and stuffs her hair into the material. Kit and Zumi just braid their hair. Each woman grabs a mask. Every mask follows an intricate pattern of lines. Kit and Hana's are blue and white, where Kit has dark blue on the forehead area and Hana has white. Ally has a yellow and burnt orange coloration and Zumi has black and red. Hailey has green and a murky brown. The girls file out, ignoring the men behind them and head straight for the hanger. Once they arrive, Ally assigns who goes with whom. Kit, Duo and Hana will ride with Heero and Zumi, Trowa, and Quatre with Wufei. Each pilot will provide cover fire to let the Benders out.

"The coordinates are already plugged into the guiding system," the Airbender explains, leaning on her staff, "We'll be able to keep up with you, if only a little late. We're going to give you extra support seeing as how the suits we were able to get a hold of are shit. The rest of you will go into the building and clean house. If you can get one alive, great; keep 'em and will do some interrogating later. The place is small, so the unit sent there to attack should also be small. This has to be done as quickly and cleaning as we can."

"Not to break your stride," Duo interrupts with a worried glance, "How in the hell are you two following and why do we have masks?"

"One: don't worry about that," she replies, "and two: do you wanna get caught? Move out!"

Each respective person mans their suits, feeling a little cramped. Heero and Wufei are told that they only need the masks if they think they'll have to exit the suits under particular circumstances. Hailey works the earth above the suits and creates a clean crevasse that opens the rock roof. The Airbender and Earthbender then take cover in the hallway outside of the hanger as the suits warm up. The two ex-pilots get the crappy suits up in record time. Ally spins her staff and flicks open secret compartments with air, splaying out the white wings of a glider. She nods to her friend and leaps in the air, bending her element through her glider. Hailey shuts the rock walls and begins to tunnel in the same direction.

After a few minutes, the two pilots recognized where they were going. There is a factory about thirty minutes to an hour by car outside of the main city that's been abandoned for many years. It was attacked during the war and was deemed unneeded in the war since funds were starting to dwindle. Kit and Hana expertly tie their masks on, adjusting them to a more comfortable fit. Duo's mask, like the other ex-pilots, is a plain black. Hana crawls over to Duo, who is behind the cockpit chair and helps him to tie it on. 01 glances over at Kit. He believes that even under that mask, Heero can see a blank face. He assumes that might be how she deals with these situations.

Wufei does his best to concentrate on his location, but the mere fact that these odd women will finally be put in action was distracting him almost like a child; a child waiting to see the circus for the first time. It's aggravating. Quatre and Trowa don't seem as anxious as he is. The Chinese man glances to the only female. Zumi rubs her thumb over her mask with a face full of mixed emotions. Wufei can only pick out a few, being horrible at reading women, but he can tell how focused she is. With only a few minutes left until they arrive, Zumi releases a short, but deep breath and swiftly ties on her red and black mask. Wufei looks to the monitor and see the old factory surrounded by four Leos. Zumi crouches by the main hatch and the other two men follow suit.

"One rule," she says, holding up a finger, "Do not talk. You will always follow me."

"How do we communicate, then?" the blonde man asks.

"By feeling," the Firebender answers, "Trust me, if you just follow us you'll be fine. Put us down, Wufei. Ally and Hailey will be here in a moment to provide more cover."

Landing near the building, he waits for Heero to come make a small corner against the other suits' fire. They jump out, giving him more breathing room. The group of six then runs into the blasted open way of the building. Kit takes the front lead while Hana is in the middle of the group and Zumi takes the rear. Kit takes care of freezing the firearms of Marcus' men while Hana takes them out. The main idea is to get to the control room, stop whatever might be happening, and kill Marcus' men. Zumi taps Quatre and Duo on the shoulders and breaks them off. Zumi's job, as usual, is to clear the other rooms out.

The Firebender easily clears out the room and knows just which people to go after. Duo and Quatre follow suit with firearms, shooting the pointed out soldiers, thanks to Zumi. No one here has any type of uniform to differentiate them. Kit, Hana and Trowa circumvent to the west side of the building. It was made a point to have detailed blueprints of every base created in the mainframe of the computer and hardcopies. The women know exactly where they're going. Easily slicing through the annoying soldiers, Trowa comes upon the control room where an Earthbender waits for him. There are several others at the computers trying to do something to the main system.

Trowa engages the man, doing his best to dodge the small pieces of earth thrown at him. When he finally gets close to the Earthbender, he winds his fist to punch him. Trowa makes a clean mark, but his knuckles become bloody. A stream of silvery water comes and slices the man from his face to his chest, revealing the thin armor of earth encrusted on the man. Trowa falls back to let the women handle the armored Bender, and proceeds to remove the five soldiers from the computers.

A fierily flash comes from the doorway and another woman with blonde hair is thrown into the room. Zumi comes in with Duo and Quatre trailing behind her. The fallen blonde stumbles to her feet and brings a stream of fire to her hands. Zumi quickly counters with fiery shaped daggers and stabs the energy easily through the slow woman. Near the same time, two thin icicles drive through the man's head, revealing dripping red tips behind him. Kit looks to Zumi, who nods and begins to search their bodies for anything important. She hands the blonde woman off to a guard after finding nothing on her. The other five each take a computer to see what damage has been done. A tremor rattles the building, making the monitor pictures wobble a little.

On the outside, one suit is already down. This battle shouldn't be taking so long, but the suits are standard and these men are high above that. Heero moves to take another down and all that's in his head besides strategies is how he misses Wing Zero in times like these. Suddenly, the suit he was going after drops to its waist in the earth. The small picture of Hailey shows on his visual screen coming out of the earth. A swoop of white and black blur across his screen and a huge razor gust comes down on the trapped mobile suit, creating divots and a long crevasse.

Something taps on Heero's suit's head. Looking over to the small tapping, Ally is there and points to herself and the Earthbender, then to the trapped suit. She then points to him and Wufei and the last two remaining. He raises an arm in signal and she leaps off in another blur of black and white. Heero moves to his last opponent, seeing Wufei paying little attention to the women that just arrived, and begins to hack away at very vulnerable spots. Luckily, the enemies have suits less prepared than theirs. He assumes that it's due to the fact that most funding is going to the Epion and trainees. After two or more hits, Wufei's remaining opponent slams into Heero's, easily finishing both of them off.

"These fools aren't worthy of the machines they were given," the Chinese pilot mutters to Heero in the communication line, "They were barely trained to handle their suits."

"Hn."

An earthy shake brings the men's attention to the two visible women taking down the last suit. Bits and pieces of metal are strung over the ground. The suit is trying to wrench their arms out of the ground. Spikes of rocks jut through the last armor and one last slice of torrent wind cuts down, cleaving the suit as a gutted fish, producing puffs of black clouds. Ally helps Hailey up from the rock she embedded herself in. They give each other nods and the Earthbender heads off into the soon to be cleans safe house. Ally taps on the cockpit door of Wufei's suit. How she got up there so quickly is unknown to him, but he obliges. Lading on the opened panel, he takes in her dirt and oil stained clothes, wondering how the stains are even visible since she's in all black.

"Stay out here and guard the perimeter," she instructs in a slightly breathless voice, "We may have to take care of back up, but I doubt it."

Without waiting for an answer, she jumps of the panel with her arms stretch as though she was diving. He automatically lurches in his chair to stop her, but is held down by the safety belts and the third streak of black and white. Shaking his raven head, he closes the hatch and takes guard with Heero. Hailey stays with them, listening to the earth as much as she can and nods at Ally as she lands and heads inside. The Airbender walks down the bloodied hallway with a regal air she never really holds. The power of a mask lets the wearer be anything they choose at any time. The Firebender passes her quickly with a small nod and she dips into another room, looking for something as Quatre follows her. Walking past the dead, dying and the saved, she enters the control station of the building.

"Airbender."

She turns to the man that called her. The broken man tries to stand without the aid of his friend and salutes, nearly falling over and blood spilling over his brown jacket. She puts a gentle hand on his shoulder and pushes him back onto his friend with a nod.

"We know that your unit is only on call for emergencies. Seeing how quickly you cleared this small situation makes me ashamed for calling your unit at all," he explains, holding his side, "I apologize fo―"

She stops him holding her hand up. Softly, she moves a raven strand from a bloody cut on his forehead. This simple action surprises him greatly and she nods again, affirming his decision to be the right one. The Origin Unit is the closet to this base and they had four suits on them. Considering they had barely any defenses for such a heavy attack, this was an emergency. Hana and Kit are busy tending the wounded with fresh water just brought in by Zumi and Quatre. Hana comes to the wounded commander and motions for him to take a seat. Ally wanders over to Kit. Tapping a console, Kit shakes her head. This isn't good. Either they fried the computer equipment, took something valuable out of the system or both. None of these options sound good, especially the last two.

Three guards hover over with firearms above the blonde Firebender. She was wounded in the gut, but Zumi made sure that this woman wouldn't die so easily. After all, interrogation has yet to be done. With some medical care and some rest, she'd make a recovery of some sort. The pale blonde woman is propped against a wall, glaring at everyone through her thin locks. Ally crouches in front of her and tries to recognize her face. Seeing that she has no idea who this Firebender is, Ally turns her attention elsewhere. Trowa is still typing hard on the keyboard, his hand flimsily wrapped in a cloth to catch the blood so the computer wouldn't be damaged. He'll have to get that healed eventually. Duo is on another computer, combining efforts with his fellow ex-pilots. Quatre is helping Kit and Hana where ever he can and eventually turns to help out the other pilots. Ally walks back over to the commander, who is looking much better thanks to Hana's care. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she points to the only live captive.

"We'll interrogate her thoroughly," he says in an angry voice, "and will decide what to do with her after that. I'll send you a full report once that is done. Thank you."

She nods and smiles under her mask, hoping he can feel that. She knows how hard it was to get that "thank you" out. He is a proud man and a good leader. Zumi walks by and gives a warm squeeze on Ally's shoulder. The Firebender walks over to Trowa to see if any progress has been made and he shakes his head. Zumi taps the side of her mask and turns to walk over to Duo.

Bright blue light fills the small room and sizzling fills the ears of every occupant. A slow, ripping shock pulls through Zumi's arm, her eyes wide as she tries to move her arm, pulling it down and towards a wall. Her pray lies within a legend of a farfetched stance. The energy pulls through her gut, lungs, and out the other arm into the wall, shattering the plaster. The proud woman drops to her knees and she hears a faint shriek that is her own.

Ally pulls her hand back and sends a blade of wind in the blonde woman's face, effectively knocking her out and leaving a wide cut on her face. She, along with the other women, drop to Zumi. She was just struck by lightning. It's incredibly rare that a Firebender learns to use lightning, let alone not be killed by it. Kit rips off Zumi's sleeve and both she and Hana concentrate water on fresh burning wound. The Airbender checks her pulse and notes that it's irregular somewhat. Once the two Waterbenders are done, Zumi begins to go into shock. Kit shoots her head up to the commander, imploring where the medical ward is. He motions to someone to escort them. Hana and Kit raise Zumi in their arms. Ally moves to follow, but Hana holds up a hand. She has to close up business here. Ally nods to her friend.

The remaining Bender checks each male at their respective computers, after shaking them out of shock and receiving a negative response from all of them. Duo shows that something is missing and eating the other files. He was able to stop the virus that was placed and recover what was lost from the body of the bug, but not what was already taken out and transferred someplace. They completely deleted it by feeding the virus through the deleted file box and pulling all the other data through that. By doing so, there is no way of retrieving anything from the deletion file box. She motions for the commander to look at the screen and see what was missing. After a minute of scanning, his chocolate eyes widen.

"Christ," he mutters, "They have the location lists…all of them."

That explains why the assault was so heavy. Markus wanted to get _that_ information. The furious redhead storms over to the captured woman, air and papers flying around her. Grabbing her by her neck, she slams the wounded woman in the wall. Clawing and grasping at her hand, the woman just laughs and says that the information is already out; that they were too late. Ally's grip tightens for a moment, and then she drops her. Clenching and unclenching her fists, the Airbender moves her pointer finger in a circle, telling them to wrap up whatever they were doing. She stalks out of the room and heads towards the medical room after being pointed to it. The small room is full of injured soldiers, but most are looking at Zumi. The Origin Unit was supposed to be immortal, unable to get hurt by anything. These people can take down mobile suits in a single pairs! Yet, here is one of them lying on an infirmary table knocked cold with a horrid burn on her arm.

Kit comes over to Ally and whispers in her ear that they don't have enough equipment for Zumi; that too many soldiers were injured and it would be better to take her back to the base. She nods to her friend and asks if she might go into shock. When Kit doesn't give an answer, Ally leaves the room and heads back outside to the set line. Zumi has been through many things and has come out with her skin at her teeth, but lightning is not on the list. Hailey turns a questioning glance at her and as she passes the Earthbender, relays that Zumi was gravely injured. Bending up to Wufei's suit, she taps on his head again and he opens the hatch.

"You're heading back early," she says, "Zumi's been hurt and needs medical attention."

"You want to split the forces?"

"You've been shot with lightning before?" she snips at him with her hands on her hips, "I know that it's splitting forces, but I'm not letting her die here. Not for something so…stupid."

"Lightning?"

"No time to explain," she says, holing up a hand and looking outside the hatch, "Hailey and Hana are going back with you."

Said people with Zumi appear in their line of vision on a pillar of rock. Zumi hangs limply in their collective grips. Ally trades spots with the trio so they could get situated. Hana uncorks a canteen of water she brought from the medical ward and immediately begins to work on her arm, allowing Wufei to see the full view of the scorched and ripped flesh.

"Tell him what you may," Ally says, pulling some of the Chinese man's attention away from the fiery Hispanic woman, "We'll clean this as soon as we can."

With that, she sweeps herself in the air again and goes to Heero to let him know the current situation. Not waiting for someone to tell him, Wufei takes off towards the base again, following Hailey's directions. They always take different ways back, even with injuries. Though, they are taking a shorter way to get back. Every few moments Wufei glances at Zumi, who is still motionless. Shaking his head, he does his best to concentrate on getting back to the base. Hana mutters a curse and removes Zumi's mask. The Firebender is sent into a fit of spasms, obviously in shock. This means that her body temperature is dropping; making her more susceptible to cold temperature and her blood is slowing down. Hana gathers her in a hug as much as possible to give her companion body heat. Hailey also helps out, wrapping her arms around Hana. Wufei grips the control sticks tighter, in anger. From what, he's unsure. Is he angry at the person who hurt her? That she was stupid enough to get an injury on a very simple mission? That he can't do anything about it? He just can't answer himself. Hailey jumps onto the ground after Wufei lands a few feet away from where and opens the hatch. She quickly opens the earthen walls and Wufei gently lowers the suit in with practice ease. Hailey closes the ceiling and shoots a pillar up for Wufei and Hana to step on. The Chinese man insists on carrying the injured and still shaking Firebender down to the med ward.

Running past the Control Room to a more hidden corridor, Hana opens the door wide while tugging off her mask. She directs Wufei to a medical bed to lay Zumi down. Both Hailey and Hana wash their hands and tug up their sleeves. Hailey gathers clean water while Hana takes a needle and fills it with a clear liquid from a medicine bottle. Rubbing a spot clean with an alcohol wipe, Hana slips the needle into Zumi's vein and slowly pushes the plunger.

"Wufei," Hailey says, startling the man a little, "Go back to the hanger and let me know when Heero is outside so I can let him in."

She's giving him an excuse to not see the Firebender like this. He takes it with a silent nod and walks back to the hanger. Wufei has been feeling exclusion from this supposed war for the last three months or so. Before, it didn't seem like there was a war. For some strange reason, here he was stuck with his old Gundam pilots and with these five other women with odd abilities. Now that something as actually happened, it seems the idea of war is finally crashing down on him. The first thing that made him realize this was not going off and having a small mobile suit battle or seeing the benders take one down. It was Zumi being hit; a casualty. That's what wars are about; people getting hurt or killed.

The water in a drum near the door flops up twice, pauses and flops once more. That must be Kit above. Wufei jogs back to medical room and knocks on the door. Hailey comes to it and rushes past Wufei. He stares at the Earthbender, trying to keep his attention from the room on his right side. Unable to control himself, his onyx eyes are locked to the stilled frame. Hana frets over some other bottles and checks her pulse, feeling that it's back to normal. Her and Hailey changed Zumi into a clean sleeping gown they keep in some cabinets. Shifting her pale green eyes at the Chinese man, she smiles at him.

"She'll be fine," she says, motioning for him to come in, "This woman has the luck of the devil with her. She should wake up sometime tonight, perhaps earlier. Don't look so worried."

"I'm not worried," he says with a half-hearted voice.

"Sure. Would you look after her? I need to change out of these clothes and into some cleaner ones."

He mutely nods. Just as Hana reaches the doorway, Ally and everyone else comes in. The Airbender stops her friend from leaving with a hand and a grave look.

"How is she?" Kit asks, looking at Zumi.

"Fine," Hana responds, "Even if the shot was close, that other woman didn't have enough power to shock her dead. She should wake soon."

"How did she shoot lightning?" Trowa asks, sitting down on a chair.

"Some Firebenders, if strong enough and well focused, will have the ability to conduct lightning," Hailey explains, "Fire is the element of raw power, even compared to earth."

"There is another problem," Ally mutters, tugging off her mask and skull cap, "As we speak Markus probably has our entire location list. This means our place is somewhat compromised. Each of the locations is hidden enough in different ways that some might not even be found. However, I want this place clean-swept and packed to leave at a moment's notice. I'm going to send out a mass message letting the other bases know the situation and to tell them to do what is best."

"Wouldn't you tell them to leave or something?" Duo asks, Quatre nodding in agreement.

"I'm not their commanding officer," she answers and leaves.

Most people leave to do as they're told, but Wufei stays behind to watch over Zumi. Kit shakes her head, knowing he cares more than he knows. Whether any of them would like to admit, every person has bonded with one another somehow. Quickly moving towards her room, Heero walks beside her.

"There are some things you haven't told us," he comments, "The Origin Unit? Ally isn't the head of the chain of command?"

"We were the first ones to start this whole thing," she answers, walking into her room and tossing her mask on her bed, "Or, better yet, we are the predecessors who were trained to take these positions. This unit used to be much bigger than just us five. Before, this unit was led by the last Avatar. A bad battle happened and tore down the unit numbers. After that, we became an elite group that is only used in emergencies and in large projects or large missions. We're sort of the rogue unit; the out cost."

"Who do you report to then?"

"…To the last Avatar."

"You said that he was captured and killed."

"We talk to his spirit from the Spirit World," she says, turning to shoo him out of her room, "Go pack."

She gently shuts the door, leaving 01 very confused in the stone hallway. Trowa walks by and pauses to pat his friend's shoulder before going past him. Truthfully, all the pilots are little unnerved at what has happened. When the war ended and the Gundams were destroyed, none of them thought they'd be in a situation like this. Trowa continues to head towards his quite room to pack what little he brought. He knows it's useless to ask the women why they were chosen to be dragged back into a war. They were the most qualified under Une's command. Of course they would go. It's been bred in every one of them, even Quatre. He stops in front of an opened door, where he watches Hailey move around her room, packing things and taking pictures down.

"You can come in, you know," she says, separating a large painting of a forest from other smaller framed pieces.

He walks into the room and a thought enters 03's mind.

"What will happen to this place if we have to leave?"

"We'll take the basic hardcopies of our information, since the other safe houses have the info we already have here, hard drives of the Brain, our own stuff and that's about it."

"What if they find a way in here and trace us?"

"Please," she says, turning around to grin at him, "They'll have to go through a shit load of solid rock. When we leave, Zumi scorches the place, then either Hana or Kit washes it out and I slam it shut under a lot of hard rock. There'll be nothing to detect above and I've yet to find an Earthbender that can see earth the way I do."

"Ally won't have a physical regrouping of forces. I know that just from the way she thinks," he mutters, more to himself, "She'll probably send out a mass message again or something along those lines."

"Something like that," she answers, opening a desk draw and going through it, "The message she already sent out is not only about information, but a five day rule that if a unit doesn't return an answer within five days, we assume they're P.O.W.s or M.I.A.s. All of them are probably too busy running around like we are to reply. There is one slight problem, though."

"What is that?"

"The other safe houses that we have are kind of small and only made for five or six people at best," she answers, going through the next draw and pulling out a grey, old beaten notebook, "We made this place when we were all around eighteen or so as a type of long lasting base. The others are above ground or in the air, depending on where Ally decides to take us. I can't do much in the air and the underground work for another base like this one would take too long considering we may move again."

"That does pose a type of problem, but I don't recommend splitting up unless it's an absolute necessary."

She nods in agreement and takes a seat on her desk chair. A chuckle escapes her thick lips.

"This is the most I've ever heard you talk," she comments with a grin, "Maybe we should have dire situations more often."

He smiles at that and shakes his head. The two continue to talk for a little until Hailey decides she has all the important things stuffed in a duffle bag along with some random bits of clothing. Hailey knows that she'll be sleeping in her mission gear. She shakes her head with a small sigh. The girls hadn't been able to stay in one place for nearly their entire lives. This safe house has been their home for the last three years or so. It took nearly two years to establish this set up. Though each woman understands the importance of leaving, she knows that they will all miss this hole in the rock.

"Do you have anyone back home, Trowa?"

"My sister, Catherine."

"I suppose she wasn't happy to see you leave," she mummers, tossing her duffle bag next to the door.

"Why would you say that?"

"You guys have little to no family," she says with a shrug, "Quatre is the only one with a large family and I have a feeling Heero doesn't have one. Families are an important thing to have. How you'd you feel if she went off to do something dangerous?"

He looks down to his laced fingers. A new weight pulls the soft bed down. He looks next to himself and sees her sitting near him, looking around her blank walls.

"What about you?"

"What do you mean?" she asks, looking at him.

"I know that the women are family to you, yet they put themselves in danger all the time."

"I do what your sister does. Endure and hope. Ideally, we all know what risks we're taking and that it's our own separate choices. Good thing we aren't ideally correct. Who could be?"

"Heero tired," he quietly blurts. He startles himself. That was very uncharacteristic of him.

"Ally tired that too," Hailey answers with a sad grin, "Nearly killed her mental state. I guess Heero was suicidal, too."

She laughs quietly with a broader grin and says, "Actually, we all tried to live like that. It was Hana that snapped us out of living like that. She was the one that questioned whether we were to survive or live. In the end, we chose to live when we can and survive when we have to."

"I suppose no one can lose that mechanical part of themselves completely," he comments, looking at the blank walls.

"Nope. You can just coincide with it," she says and nudges him, "You need to get your stuff ready."

He nods and leaves the Earthbender to her room. Her smile drops as soon as his footsteps fade. It's disturbing how similar she and the women are to these men. Even after all the things they went through, the men still have more freedom than the women. After all, Benders don't exist anymore.

* * *

Quatre is a little unsure what to do now that he has his belongings packed. With the way Kit and the others were acting, it seemed like they should be leaving any moment now. To try and kills some tense time, he wanders around. He comes to the Control Room, seeing the door wide opened. He wouldn't break the women's rule about being in this room by himself, but he does come to the doorway to just look in. He sees the redhead sitting with one leg bent on the seat and her head in her hand while the other arm hangs limply. Her mask and skullcap is laid beside her on an empty space on the desk. Hesitating at the doorway, Quatre enters the room and clears his throat. She glances at him for a moment, and then goes back to her position.

"Are you alright?" he asks in a soft voice.

"Just tired," she says, tapping a letter on the keyboard. The computer is off.

"You seem to be a little stressed," he presses, "Is there anything I can help with?"

"Not really. I appreciate the concern, but there's nothing anyone can do for right now," she says and glances at him again, "I suppose you're on edge too."

"A little, yes," he says with a sheepish smile, "With the way things were going, I thought we'd leave immediately."

"That's something Markus would want us to do," she mummers, leaning back in her chair, "He knows that the fact that he has our list will make some of us jump out of the water, or in our case, earth. I'm worried about other units jumping the gun too soon. Markus is a crazy son of a bitch, but he's no idiot. He knows that this basic tactic will draw some of the flimsier forces out, so he may wait for a little before sending out forces."

"You seem to know this man pretty well," he comments, taking a chair.

"We've been trained to," she mutters with an uncaring shrug.

"It seems to be a little more than that."

She looks over to him and his aquamarine eyes lock on her own blue ones.

"There was a personal…interface between us," she nearly whispers, "It wasn't a good experience to say the least."

The two sit in silence. Quatre knows not to say that he's sorry. If these women are anything like he believes, hard and enduring, hearing someone say they're sorry for them will just make her angry and resentful to him. He would be the same way, if only polite about it. The concern would be appreciated at one point.

"There is a small bit of an optimistic side to this whole thing," she says, shaking him from his thoughts, "They may not be able to detect us. After all, we're in an area that looks completely useless and we should be far enough under the earth to avoid electronic detection. If they have someone that can listen to the earth as well as Hailey can, we're fucked."

"Perhaps they will not notice us," he says with a small smile.

"I hope so," she says, getting up and going though the files along with three small black cases that are hard drives to the computer.

* * *

Wufei wants to kick himself in the head right now. He has all his possessions packed and only a few changes of clothes. Everything he needed to get done is, well, done. So, why is he here in the infirmary, standing in the doorway and watching Zumi sleep? He has no logical answer as to why he is here. The woman is stable and should wake up soon, not to mention her other friends have all her things packed and ready next to her bed. What is the purpose of his presence here? He walks through the doorway and leans on the wall next to it, crossing his arms. His body seems to want to go next to her bed, but he knows that she's fine; that she'll wake up soon. Yet, seeing her exhausted face and still body, besides her breathing, makes him feel…incredibly worried.

He can't remember feeling like this for many people; not even the pilots since he knows that they take their risks. The only other person that comes to his mind is Meilan or Nataku, his late wife when he was forced to marry her at the age of thirteen for the clan. Even then, somehow, someway, this woman who will live seems to have a little more meaning than Meilan. …No. They both have the same amount of meaning but in different places; places Wufei doesn't seem to quite understand.

"Ow."

He snaps his head up and looks to the Firebender who is squirming a little in bed. He walks over to her and tries to calm her down.

"Wufei?" she asks, squinting her eyes, "What happened? Where are we?"

"You were shot with lightening," he explains in a quiet voice, "We're back at the base."

"Have I been out for long?"

"Not really, but there is a problem."

"Great. What is it?"

"Markus has the list of all the bases," he says, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed, "We have all our things packed, including your things and we're just waiting for the orders to leave."

"Shit," she says slowly, running her good hand through her tangled hair, "That's not good at all. Ally's probably having a bit of a fit in her mind."

Some silence passes between the two, Wufei staring at the edge of the bed while she stares at the wall in front of her.

"Wait a minute," Zumi says, sitting up some, "Why in the hell are you here? I figured one of the girls or Quatre would be here, but not you."

"I…was…uh, told to…"

"You my Chinese friend are a shit liar," she says, pointing a finger towards him, "Which by the way doesn't make any sense."

He glares at her and a slow grin starts to form on her face.

"You like me," she says in a singsong voice, "You want to hold me, you want to hug me, you want to love me."

"Stupid woman!" he nearly yells and leaves the room, Zumi's laughter following behind him.


	8. Chapter 8

Sat. back and late, I know. Basically, shit happened and it will continue, sadly for my sanity and my rate of writing. So, in case you forgot, which you most likely did, Markus has gotten the list of all the bases and Zumi had been injured by lightening. So, let's continue on!

* * *

Chapter Eight: The Last Avatar; Operation: Origin Unit

"So, it's decided then?"

"Yes. In order to be completely prepared, we have to understand just who we are dealing with against the enemy."

"It's so strange that we don't know anything about them, but it seems that we've grown closer to them. Even if we didn't mean to."

"I just don't understand why they're so closed up 'bout this. I mean, sure we've got our nasty secrets but it didn't interfere with the trust between us."

"Something must have occurred in their pasts to cause such isolation. Aside from that, we've never really worked with anyone else but each other. We didn't really trust one another very much back then."

"Should we ask them now?" Quatre asks, glancing at each pilot. They're currently in the kitchen discussing the topic they know the least about: the five women they have to live and fight with.

"Better to do it now before we lose our guts to ask," Duo reasons, leaning back in his chair.

It's been two days since the emergency rescue mission. Zumi has gotten better, but still can't get out of bed quite yet. Everyone has been on edge recently. Training has stopped and most of them stay in their rooms or near the Control Room. Ally seems to be glued to the main computer, allowing it to stay on at all times. This place wasn't that noisy before, but it was filled with life. Now it seems to be drained. The five men split up to find each of the women and tell them to go to the med ward. After the men basically herd their other teammates, the women all sit around Zumi, who is propped up in bed. Each has confused looks and some shrug to each other.

"Is there something wrong, guys?" Hailey asks, glancing at all of the men.

"There are a few things you haven't told us," Quatre starts, "and we've come to the decision that we should be told what you aren't telling us."

The blonde man leans on his knees while sitting in a chair. Ally and Hana sit on the extra bed while Kit is next to Zumi. Hailey stands near the end of Zumi's bed with an impatient look. She really doesn't want to answer any questions. She is with Ally in keeping some things, such as the secret weapon, away from the men.

"What is it that you want to ask?" Zumi says, smoothing her blanket.

"We want to know about the Origin Unit," Duo answers, shifting in his chair, "We want the history of it."

"We also want to know about the Avatar and how you are supposed to take commands from a dead man," Heero adds, crossing his arms while standing behind 02 and04.

"Your questions dig deeper than you know," Ally mutters, "I really think you shouldn't ask them. We don't ask questions about your pasts. Besides, it's not important to know the answers."

"They're being asked," Wufei growls from his leaning position on a wall, "and they will be answered. These questions deal with the present and in order to understand the present, the past must be dredge up."

"Your questions will not be answered," the Airbender responds with her own growl, clenching her hands, "You ask about something that you will never understand even if we did explain it to you. It doesn't deal with modern scientific ideas and all of you will think us insane."

"You will answer them," Wufei insists, becoming louder.

"No, I will not!" she snaps back, some air ruffling her clothes.

The two start to yell, ripping the thin cloth of calmness that has been draped over the tension for the last two days. After a minute longer, Hana gets up.

"Will both of you shut up!" she screams a cup of water shaking on the nightstand, "You're both acting like five-year-olds! This is getting beyond ridiculous and it sure is hell not what we need right now. Wufei, stop provoking Ally, and Ally, for Christ's sake, how about asking _us_ whether their questions should be answered!"

With a huff, the usually quiet Waterbender sits down with her arms crossed and a glare fixed on her face. A tense and surprised silence drags through the air and Ally sighs.

"You're right, Hana," Ally says in a subdued voice, "I'm being selfish, not to mention we are kind of at their right of way for these questions. We'll vote on whether we should tell them or not. Raise your hand if you're for it."

Zumi, Kit and Hana raise their hands, out voting Ally and Hailey. The Airbender nods.

"We think you guys deserve to know some of our past, or most of us do," Zumi says, "Especially after what happened the other day. We need more trust built between us."

"Would it be alright if we explained the Origin Unit first?" Kit asks the guys and fiddles with a strand of hair. Just because she wants to tell them a bit of their story doesn't mean she's not nervous.

"That would be fine," Trowa confirms adding a nod.

"The unit was an experiment," Zumi immediately and calmly explains, clasping her hands together, "We're the third or fourth generation of this unit."

"Third or fourth?" Quatre asks.

"The records are shaky as to whether there was a third one or not after the second," Hailey chimes in, albeit unwillingly, "We're unsure of what happened because of a freak fire and that the unit was killed off very early. I mean before their first mission."

"The unit's purpose was to breed a team that worked as well as the Avatar did," Zumi continues, "In other words, if the Avatar should ever officially die and the cycle stops, we are supposed to do our best to take on the position of the Avatar. This group used to be bigger. The idea was that four benders and one non-bender would be the head of that unit and make decisions together for their troops and for the other bending community if need be."

"Who started this experiment?" Duo cuts in and leans on his knees.

"The last Avatar did," Ally answers back, rubbing the bridge of her nose, "He thought that since his last life nearly died and almost cut the cycle, he should create some kind of safeguard to continue on the duties he couldn't do. We're unsure what happened to him after the experiments began and whether he died in his normal state or in the Avatar state."

"Would you care to know how our unit became only us five?" Kit asks with a sad voice, "It's not a pretty story to hear and I kinda assume you guys would want to know."

Kit looks at Zumi and the Waterbender sighs. The question doesn't even need an answer.

"It happened around ten years ago or so. I know that doesn't seem like a short time, but when you're dealing with a leader that has been living for who knows how long, it's short. That makes time seem short to those under that leadership," the Waterbender mummers, eye becoming glazed, "The unit has just starting to train us. We were all separate from one another back then, each learning how to control our bending abilities. However, we were forced to move location a lot. Almost every day. When we met one another, one question we asked each other is if they had to move locations nearly each day and we all said yes. Something was up; we knew that even when we were still kids. Something bad was about to happen."

She takes a deep breath, shifts and continues.

"It happened about a week after we met each other. At the time, it seemed so strange to stay in one place and not have to sleep on a backpack with your things in it. The day after we arrived to where ever we were, a new type of training started; training dealing with teamwork in the field and in the office. There was someone that was in charge of our teamwork, someone we all grew very close to. He was like our brother or something cheesy like that.

"At the end of the week, half the building blew up in the middle of the night. We thought we were under attack, so all five of us ran to the cafeteria, where they told us to go. The trainers knew we weren't ready for battle and wanted us to go into the cellar in the cafeteria. When we got there, our 'brother' was waiting for us. Like the kids we were, we coward around him and asked what was going on. He held Hailey and Hana and tried to snap their necks. He turned on us."

Once more, she stops and shuts her eyes. All of the women are very still and quiet.

"We found out later that he killed everyone but two of our trainers and us," she said, finishing the story.

"What happened to the man that…?" Wufei asks in a somewhat subdued voice.

"He died," Hana whispered.

"How?" Heero questions.

"I killed him," Ally says flatly and looks to a wall.

"Bu―" Duo starts.

"Can we change the subject please," Kit asks in a watery voice, "This is still a tender topic."

"How is it that your orders come from someone who is dead?" Heero mercifully interjects, "Last time I heard, one can't talk to the dead without some soothsayer of sorts, if it's even possible."

"The Avatar is the bridge between the Material World and the Spirit World," Hana answers as though it's plain as day.

The men give the Waterbender blank looks. Heero and Duo have heard some mention of the Spirit World, whatever that may be, though haven't had any type of elaboration on it.

"In most religions," Ally begins, still staring at the wall, "There are different planes. An example that is most known is Christianity's Heaven, Earth, and Hell. The types of planes we follow are a little bit…different. The planes are simply only two, as far as our knowledge tells us. Those two are the Spirit World, which all the gods and spirits live and where people go after death and the other is the Material World where we live now. The Spirit World is split up into different sections and thought to mirror the Material Plane in a few areas. The past Avatars also go to the Spirit World to live in their afterlife and to be accessible to the material Avatar."

"That doesn't explain how you talk to a dead guy," Duo comments, his mind getting a little fuzzy from the informational rush.

"He communicates to us," Zumi continues for Ally, "Through dreams or near death experiences. He actually talked to me during my training and no, I wasn't hallucinating before any of you say anything. All we can assume is that since he was the Avatar, he still retains his ability in the Spirit World, where he is alive in another sense."

"You take orders…"Wufei beings in a low voice, "from dreams and near death experiences? Has it occurred to any of you that these visits could be figments created by desperate minds? How can you take your actions seriously when you're being lead on improvable happenings? How…_ignorant_ can any of you be?!"

Suddenly, a fist smacks the Chinese in the mouth, knocking him back a few steps. The Airbender is in front of him, her arm still in the down swung position and teeth clenched and grinding against each other. With her head still down, she walks past Wufei and out of the door without closing it. This is the first time the new members of this unit can actually hear her footsteps. A door slams somewhere down the hall.

"Wufei, you have to understand something. We have no history of our culture. All we have are a few records and that's not enough to know what we are supposed to look for," Hailey says with a shaking voice, either from anger or something else, "There were only three times we have heard or seen, in some cases, the past Avatar. You ask us how we can be so ignorant as though it's our choice to be."

The Chinese man rubs his jaw and leans against the wall. Everyone takes a few minutes just to calm down and absorb the information given to them. With a great breath, Zumi readies to continue the story for them, even though there is not much left.

"The three times that the last Avatar was heard or seen from the Spirit World are far in between. The first time he contacted someone was before any of us were toddlers. Records state that he talked to the leaders of the unit through a mirror and, supposedly, told them where to find us and why we were to be found. The second time was when we were around four or five. He came to warn them that someone from the inside would try to kill the new Avatar. The third time was with me, telling me that we would have to be strong and that…that we needed to keep one another safe for the new Avatar."

"You told us before that you weren't sure if the Avatar still existed," Quatre comments.

"We can't help but be shaky about what we believe when it comes to the Avatar or most of our history," Kit says, rubbing her forehead, "All we do know is that we have a war to win."

"You mentioned before that the main leaders were to be four benders and one non-bender," Trowa asks, "Why is that the five of you were all trained?"

"The trainers weren't sure who to have as their Waterbender. It was a tossup between Kit and I," Hana responds, "Either way, we would be used in the war efforts."

"I think you guys have had enough information for one day," Hailey says, crossing her arms, "Anymore and your heads might explode. Let's give Zumi some rest, huh?"

The tall Earthbender leaves the room, dismissing the meeting. To the women, this interaction seemed more like a cornering. Hailey is reminded again that these men were and still are the best at war activities. Interrogating counts. The men slowly leave the room, Duo lagging behind the most. Kit and Hana leave together with hands around each other's waist in support. Zumi calls Wufei back and Duo walks out of the room, glancing at 05 and the Waterbender. When the door shuts, Zumi motions for him to have a seat near her.

"Listen, Wufei," she starts in a quiet tone, "Please don't be mad at Ally for hitting you. She had…or has some choice words for the Avatar herself. I had to give her a message from him the single time I heard him that basically was to suck it up and stop bitching. Needless to say, she took it pretty hard."

"And that reason is good enough to lay a hit on someone," he mutters back with a glare.

"When you insulted her and gave derogatory comments to her as a leader and her choices, yes," she returns calmly, "She already thinks she shouldn't be leading anyone to anything, but she was supposed to be trained to hold us together. Ally, like the rest of us, is doing the best she can. You guys had all of your training. We're self-taught. None of us have actually been to a school before…not even pre-school."

"You want me to apologize?" he snips, feeling somewhat guilty, though still annoyed.

"No, I want you to leave that subject alone because I know you'll just get angry again and so will she. Please don't fight."

He huffs and looks away from the Firebender. It's his choice if he wants to bring the subject up again. If he wants to, he will. Even if it will cause tension in the group, he's not going to give them pity or sorrow for their pathetic story. They all had their sad little stories. A warm and smooth hand lightly grips his. He looks at his hand to see Zumi's on it and looks at her pleading face. His eyes tighten a little more and he mutter out that he won't bring the subject up. It would be stupid to anyway.

* * *

Another tense day has passed and still nothing. Zumi can walk around now for a while without getting dizzy. She is more than happy to get out of the med ward. Hana and Hailey kicked Ally out of the Control Room and told her to eat and get some sleep. She stayed up watching the computer all night and forgot to eat dinner. The Airbender trudges in the kitchen, grabbing two pieces of toast and an apple and trudges right back out. Duo and Kit watch the redhead without making any sounds.

"So much for telling her to go to sleep," Kit says with a sigh, "She never listens to me."

"She does," Duo responds, "Just not when it comes to monitoring the computer."

The two falls to a more comfortable conversation, mostly about the favorite areas they've been before. Zumi comes in a while later and joins the conversation. Things seem so easy between them, almost as though they just met off the street. It makes Duo wonder how they would act without a war biting at their backs. He also wonders how Wufei would react to these women if he met them in a different situation. The Chinese man has horded himself in his room since the…punch out incident. Duo shakes his head and pays more attention to the two women around him. The two are currently debating about food and how spicy tortilla soup should be. Naturally, Zumi wants it spicier.

"Well, I think it needs at least two full chilies in there with the seeds," the Firebender states with her arms crossed, "It just doesn't taste right."

"No way, Matchstick," Kit retorts with a smile, "You'll kill your mouth and stomach with all that spice."

"Do you two always argue about food?" the braided pilot asks with a grin.

"Hey, food is important," the Waterbender answers.

"Especially good tasting food," Zumi adds with a nod, "When you go so long without food, you come to adore it."

"I know how that feels," he mummers back with a sad smirk.

Hailey comes in the kitchen and looks around for a moment.

"Hey, Hail, what's up?" Zumi asks, "Who or what are you looking for?"

"Ally and y'all," the Earthbender replies, "I have something interesting to tell everyone in the Brain Room."

"We just sent her to bed," Kit responds, "Does she need to get up right now?"

"Yeah, it deals with some important activities."

Kit winces a little at the last sentence. Hailey leaves to find others or to go to the Control Room and the trio look at one another.

"I'll go wake her up," Duo volunteers, getting up from the table, "If that's alright."

"Uh, sure," Kit hesitantly agrees, "Just be careful when you wake her up. She tends to be jumpy."

"C'mon, she can't be as bad as Heero. Do you know how many times that guy has almost killed me?"

"If you say so, man," Zumi concedes with hands up, "It's your funeral."

The braided pilot walks up the stairs and into a small hallway on the right side after walking through the door. Ally's full name is carved on the door in quick and rough letters. He forgets that her name is Alincia Dunne and not Ally. He knocks on the door and receives no answer. He repeats and so is the answer. He opens the door to the somewhat dark room. A small candle is lit near her bed in a square metal lantern. Duo can't really see much in the room, but doesn't trip on anything as he makes his way to the sleeping person on the bed.

She didn't bother to change her clothes or to pull the covers back. Her blue and red comforter patters are convoluted in the dim light. Ally sleeps on, he thinks, a black pillow with one arm over her head and another on across her stomach. Her usual frown is still on her lips, but not as forced or hard. She breaths slowly and stretches her neck up for a second and then back down. Duo shakes himself out of this…observation and moves to shake her shoulder. He touches it and her hand that was on her stomach grabs his wrist. The hand above her head grabs his shirt collar and he is flipped in the air. A weight is across his waist, one arm pinned under a knee, the other by an arm and a hand near his neck.

"The hell you doin' in her-ia?" she mutters darkly with a sleepy slur.

02 detects a certain American southern city accent that he can't quite recognize at the moment.

"A-Ally?"

The Airbender squints and tries blinks her bloodshot eyes into focus. She turns her head to the side slightly, unsure of what is happening.

"Not that this isn't hot and all, but would you please not kill me today?" Duo says with a wobbly voice, "I don't think Heero would appreciate it if you killed me and he didn't."

She squints harder for a moment, letting her eyes adjust properly and takes in a sharp gasp. Using her bending she flings off of Duo and on to the floor.

"Why are you in here?" Ally asks through the hands over her red face.

"Well, I was coming to wake you up. Hailey says there is something interesting in the Control Room."

"Please don't say anything to anyone," she whines, pushing her palm more to her face, "That hasn't happened to me in years."

"I don't think anyone would believe me," he responds with a weak grin and gets up from her bed, "That's happened before?"

"I was never easy to wake up," she mutters as she opens the door.

He is sure she must be wondering what he is wondering: What in the hell just happened?

The two walk to the Control Room, though Ally stumbles from a sleepiness and leans on the wall most of the time. Everyone is already at the room and the Airbender squeezes in to the tight space. Hailey and Hana occupy the chairs in front of the monitors and a very short letter document is on the screen. Ally reads the two short sentences and the signature and curses.

"'Moved to new location. Moved to new location against own will. UFI,'" Hailey reads and with a sigh, turns to the others, "They were attacked which means…"

The silence that takes over the room makes it seem as though a huge alarm is supposed to go off and everyone is supposed to make a run for it. Instead, the silence continues and none of them can do anything. Ally mutters that she's going back to bed. The group of people eventually disperses to go back to whatever they were doing beforehand. There is nothing much to do expect wait and hope that Marcus' men don't find their location. Even if the five days pass, they'll all still be on edge.

Time passes pretty quietly for the rest of the day, and almost everyone is sleeping since it's around one in the morning or so. Ally and Kit sit in the Control Room. Neither of them are really doing anything other than being bored. The situation doesn't really call for constant conversation and neither feels like doing anything. The unspoken question among the two is when they wouldn't feel so damn restless and useless. At least moving, they could feel that they were making some kind of progress.

"They're going to be mad, you know."

Ally looks over to the Waterbender. Kit is slumped in her chair with her arms crossed and a frown on her face. The Airbender sits up from the table she had her arms resting on.

"'Bout what?"

"The things we're fixing up for them. There are certain things you leave alone or abandon or destroy after being in a war, despite the bonds make with those things. I know after this whole thing is done, I'm most likely going to burn my mask."

"There's no other choice. They'll be mad at us after this is done. There's nothing else we can do to insure the victory of this war. You know this whole thing goes beyond life and death for just us."

"They'll probably never trust us again."

Ally looks at the keyboard in front of her and sighs. She knows Kit is right. Ally would like to continue to have some type of friendly relationship with these guys after the war. She supposes they grew on her after a while when she wasn't looking.

"No, they won't. We couldn't tell them before they signed on, though. They could have tried to destroy what we're fixing or attacked us to get to them. No matter what, it would be bad for both our sides and Marcus would win by default. We didn't have much a choice in telling them."

"Not even about the Avatar?"

"The less they know about it, less chance we have of losing. Not to mention if they become P.O.W.s. You can't force information out of someone if they don't know it. We can tell them…eventually, but only if the time calls for it. It's not needed right now."

"Should we go to sleep?" Kit asks, as she slumps a bit more in her chair.

"If you want to," Ally responds, "I want to keep an eye on this thing for a little while longer."

"Eh, I'll stay up for a little longer with you, but you're going to sleep when I do," Kit commands with a somewhat comical stern look.

"Wh―"

A flashing message comes on the main monitor and Ally clicks it. The sensors that were planted above report heavy movement above ground and some other thing possibly digging into the ground. Ally tells Kit to go wake up Hailey and to investigate what it is. The Waterbender runs as Ally begins to save the message from the last night onto a flash drive. Kit nearly breaks Hailey's door down when the Earthbender finally answers.

Kit grabs her wrist and explains what is going on as they run. Hailey comes to a stop at the wall between the water basins and calmly puts her hands on it. Closing her eyes, she takes a breath and tries to feel the vibrations. The Earthbender can barely feel the pitter patter of feet, though she counts about fifteen of them. What draws her attention more is the large metallic object hammering into the doorway. Using the vibrations of the drill machine, she concentrates on who is operating it and notices an odd, long object…a gun. Shit.

"Wake everyone and tell them to get ready for a bumpy ride," she says to Kit, "I'll tell Ally to start killing the brain."

Her eyes widen a bit at Hailey's commands and dashes off to do so. The tall black woman sighs and takes a steady jog up to the Control Room. She comes to the opened room and Ally looks up from her packing. Of course the Airbender would already know. The two just look at one another with stoic but somewhat sad eyes and continue what they were doing. Hailey runs to her room to pack her own things while Ally puts in the codes for a virus to eat everything and an explosive to detonate after the virus is done. With a small sigh, she picks up the few files that are already in a fire proof brief case with the flash drives in them and heads to her own room with a distinct calmness. There is no point in panicking and they haven't broken the second layer of earth.

Everyone is in the kitchen; bags packed and tired faces grim. Zumi already has her short sleeves rolled to set this place ablaze. She undo's her bandage on her arm in case it caught on fire. Ally hands over the documents to Hana, who is the next fastest between Ally and Zumi. Kit is a little slower than Hana, but better at controlling water. The group moves to the foyer with all their things. When it comes down to messy situations, the men do not flinch or panic. Even Kit's hands are a little shaky from what actions she's about to execute.

"We're going to the second station," the Airbender informs the group. The women nod, but the men all have odd looks.

"Hailey and I will take care of the suits and get them ready to get the hell outta here," she continues undaunted by their looks, "You men will follow Hana to the shuttle. Once Hailey and I have the suits into position to leave, Kit, Zumi and Hailey will tear this place apart. Hailey, let's move."

The Earth and Airbender disappear into the ground, Hailey bending as quickly as she could. Kit gathers up the water from the two basins and all of it from the kitchen, waiting for the signal to flood the area. Zumi stands next to her, waiting to start her flames. Hana waits with them, not looking at anyone or anywhere but the kitchen entrance. Duo glances around and wonders what they are supposed to do. Trowa wonders how two women are supposed to load five suits by themselves. Soon, everyone feels heavy vibrations underneath them that die after perhaps a minute. The Airbender shoots up from the small hole in the earth.

"Start it," she says before dropping back down.

Zumi and Kit both run to the back of the hallway where the Control Room is. Hana motions for the men to follow her into the kitchen where she moves a small piece of the wall out of the way.

"Follow this all the way down. It'll be bigger once you get inside of it," she explains, "I'll be in last to close the small gap. C'mon, go!"

Quatre is the first to scramble into the long passageway and begins to move as quickly as possible in the pitch dark tunnel. The walls, though narrow, were smooth and the ceiling was high enough, he hoped, for Trowa to stand all the way up. Soon the last bit of light it cut behind the blonde man, but he doesn't falter. The whole construction shook again making dirty fall from the ceiling and slamming Zumi into a wall and nearly knocking the water out of Kit's control.

"Let's start it," the Firebender says, igniting her fists.

"You sure you can do this?" Kit questions for a moment.

"Do we have a choice whatever my condition may be?" she shoots back and sprints down the hall.

She shoots large flames into every room. Some of the flames are laced with bright blue at the bottom. When the Control Room comes up, she doesn't hesitate and flings in the most fire there, coming to a stop for a few seconds before continuing on to the other rooms. Once Zumi leaves this hallway to move on to the other one, Kit starts to flood every room to put the fire out and to ruin the ashes. Someone can piece together some parts of ashes, but it's harder with wet ashes. Like her friend, Kit stops to take special care of the Control Room, letting the water sit a moment longer than in the other rooms.

Taking a deep breath, she splays her fingers around her mouth and slowly moves them forward with her exhale, freezing what is in the room. Kit breaks the ice and melts it and moves on to the other rooms. The two benders make their way to the kitchen where Hana recently exited from. Zumi puts in the last flames and Kit puts out the ones beginning at the kitchen. Before shutting the door, the black haired woman puts out the last flames and follows her comrade to the emergency side hanger. The suits are already loaded and so are all the people. Ally waits by the hatch of the shuttle and offers Zumi a hand up. She takes it and finds a seat in the large cockpit.

"Done?" Ally asks.

"Done," Kit confirms and goes to her seat.

Ally shuts and bolts the door. For just one moment, she stops and realizes that they've destroyed a place where they lived the longest. Crushing the welling sadness, she walks to the cockpit where Heero and Duo have taking over the controls. The autopilot already has the coordinates on where they are to go.

"Well, we're ready to bail this place," Duo reports, "but how are we supposed to go? There's a stone wall above us."

"Have some faith," Hailey responds with a grin from her seat, "Though, it doesn't help the fact that I'll be moving the floor and walls in, does it?"

The tall ebony woman closes her eyes and her arms and hands begin to shake. The ceiling does in coordination with her, slowly opening. Trowa wonders if the enemy is right above this spot. He also wonders if the Earthbender has ever done something akin to this.

"Out curiosity for the safety of our lives, have you ever done this before?" Wufei asks.

Apparently he was thinking the same thing.

"Well, we did some experiments, but they caused some commotion, so I haven't opened to the surface completely before," Hailey responds in a strained voice.

"Optimism, anyone?" Hana asks with a sheepish grin.

"Oh my God," Duo mutters from his seat as he grips down harder.

The shuttle gets closer to the earthen ceiling while the opening starts to move slower and slower while the walls and floor creep in more.

"Hailey," Hana draws out.

The said woman continues to concentrate with sweat running down her face.

"Hailey," Kit says with a shaky voice. She pushes herself deeper in her chair.

The earth is getting closer with little signs of opening. Ally grasps her armrests tightly as she mutters shit under her breath. She leans down behind Hailey, who is in front of her and lets her arms hang.

"Halite!" Zumi yells as the wall scrapes the nose of the craft.

Suddenly, they're in open sky and gaining velocity. The slamming of the earth was nearly muted to them. Everyone, even Heero and Trowa, breathes a sigh of relief. Ally is still doubled over in her chair, trying hard not to lose her stomach contents. She leans back as soon as she feels the craft start to shake a little from the atmosphere. Before long, the shuttle breaks free of the gas layer and Heero allows autopilot to take over for a few minutes. Even he needs a moment of recovery after that.

"Oh holy mother of hell," Hailey mutters, "That was so much harder than it seemed to be at first."

"Thanks for not killing us, dear," Kit weakly says with a watery grin, "Though, I'm sure that if I were to be reincarnated, you sure killed who ever I was supposed to be."

"That was…interesting," Quatre says, wiping his brow.

"Yeah, the life of a bender is always fun-filled," Zumi says, clutching her sore arm, "by the way, I think my wound broke open."

To prove what she said, a small stream of red flows from between her fingers. Hana mutters something while Kit catches the stream of blood with her hand before it hit something important. Hana takes a first aid kit from under her seat and finds a small bottle of water in it. Squeezing some out the nozzle, she catches it with her bending and unbuckles her seatbelt to close Zumi's wound.

"How you hangin' Ally?" Hailey asks.

"Could be better, could be worse."

"What's up with her?" Duo asks.

"I don't like the fact that there isn't any gravity," the Airbender mutters, "I get sick."

"That's wonderful," Wufei mutters, "Just what we need: a leader that gets space sickness."

"I have issues with space," she snaps back, with her eyes still closed and head back, "I have issues with the fact that I don't have my element out here with me. It's like not eating and starving but still living."

A small silence deepens in the cockpit. After a few minutes of silence, Heero takes off the autopilot.

"Where is our destination?" he asks.

"The second station is an old war machine factory somewhere between the Earth and Mars," Kit explains, "the computer will let you know when we get there."

"The enemy saw us leave," Trowa comments, "What's the possibility that they will find our new location?"

"If they deduct correctly that we're in space, the station we're going to isn't on the space charters anymore and the area doesn't give off any type of heat," Hailey explains, "The reason why this factory was built around Mars was for the somewhat lower temperature. It kept production up since the machines wouldn't overheat as much."

The group of people allows the silence to linger for the rest of the trip. Zumi falls asleep somewhere in the middle of the trip. Kit stares at the very first picture her and the other women took when they were young teens. Naturally, this was the first thing she picked up. Hana gets up to check Zumi's arm and heart rate every so often, mainly for the Firebender's benefit and partially for her own.

"It sure has been a while since I've been in space," Duo mummer in the silence.

His comment is answered with the continuing silence. He supposes he can understand why the women would be very quiet right now. They did just destroy their own home, after all. The computer sends off a small beeping noise, alerting everyone, who is awake, that they've reached the new station. The station is implanted on a very large asteroid. The worn down silver body of the factory seems to be a parasite on the natural rock. Heero easily lands the craft in the old hanger. Kit directs Heero to where the activation switch is on the control panel to turn on the basic power in the hanger. He does so and the hanger doors shut and would most likely make horrible noise if there was air present. As soon as the doors shut, oxygen starts to flow in the 0g area.

"We're here," Hailey mutters to Ally.

"Take Zumi to a room and start switching this place on," she says back. She has been doubled over for the whole trip, keeping her head near her knees.

"Gonna live?" the Earthbender asks.

"Eventually. Let's get this place up and running first. I can worry about living later."

Everyone unbuckles themselves from their chairs, while Ally still stays seated. Hana lets Heero know that under his chair are two maps of the good areas and where they'll be staying. Hailey takes care of Zumi, though Wufei believes that a woman shouldn't carry another person. Heero retrieves the two maps and hands one to Hana, who will be going with Hailey to be her arms. With a sigh, Ally pulls her body straight with a pale face and stands, ignoring her moving hair and the fact that her feet aren't touching the ground as best she can. Heero leads them out of the shuttle and into the empty and decrepit hanger. The area that used to be silvery and new is now gray and dead.

"What kind of hell did I just put myself into?" the Airbender mutters as she follows at the end of Heero's group.

"You chose this place," Trowa counters, since he is the closest to her.

"I did, but I only wanted to use this place as a last resort," she replies, gripping the railing on the wall with both hands, "With everything happening and the current situation with our B.M. products in and being put to use, this place seemed the most logical."

"What will we do now that we're here?" 04 asks.

"Send out a message, wait and hopefully find where Marcus sent those forces from."

The group passes up a main consul room and Ally stops in this room, activating the power. Ally asks one of them to go and tell Hailey and Hana that she'll put on the gravity as soon as Zumi is in bed. She also tells the other to find the power switches and to activate those as well. She takes a seat and boots up the computers. A blank message pops up for her to type in, as preplanned.

"Forced to move to new location. O.U."

With a sick sigh, Ally sends off the letter to all the address of the units and checks the new mail system. No new replies. What kind of hell has happened, indeed?


	9. Chapter 9

Sat. back finally with an update after eons…not really, but it seems like that. Things have become a bit more hectic here, but no one wants to hear about that, so let's move on. More details about the Origin Unit have been revealed and now the ten people are on the run to space. Sorry this one isn't as long as most of the others, but I couldn't make it stretch any more. I own nothing familiar.

* * *

Chapter Nine: To Hide in Nothing; Nothing to Hide

Benders weren't meant for space. Earthbenders may survive and even Waterbenders, if they can learn how to heat water to keep it flowing. However, that's only two out of four. Even the Avatar, if still living at all, wouldn't be able to properly survive here. Zumi knows that the moment the support systems go out or if she goes into the huge sky beyond the artificial walls, she would be powerless. It's not that she can't defend herself without bending, but she _needs_ to do it for her own health. The mere thought that she can only bend on filtered air from a generator makes her sick.

Even if she did bend fire, the amounts would be pathetically small because one small mistake could destroy some vital part of the system. The underground cavern that Hailey made was the best deal the women had going, despite Ally's slight dislike to enclosed rock. She doesn't have anything against space and Zumi does find it beautiful. In fact, the Firebender lived in space before. After she came to Earth, she never wanted to live in space longer than she had to. Yet, Zumi is back in the void where she was born. At least, she believes so.

The Hispanic woman pushes off the window she was leaning on with a sigh. Her wound is more or less healed. It's already been five days since the notice was sent out. The numbers are…sparse. Naturally, they would be. Her lips twist in a bitter grimace. What are they supposed to do with three operational units, not counting themselves, and the largest one only has thirty people? A fist bangs into the metallic wall and her bones fire up with pain. She's so angry that all they've worked for and built up in forces has been bitch slapped in less than a week. Zumi just doesn't know what to do and she hates it. It's moments like these where she is happy she isn't in charge, as selfish as that sounds. Ally is the one to take on most of the responsibility for this and the one to deal with the stoic decisions. Zumi supposes she'll be angry for both of them since the Airbender doesn't have time for it.

Perhaps this whole incident wasn't their fault, but Zumi knows where the majority of her guilt is coming from. The "Maybe" and "What If" questions have been running through her head since she heard about the high jacking of location lists. A day or so ago, she decided to put those useless questions out of her head; she chose to stop her self-pity and to move with what they had and to do the best they can. That doesn't mean she's still not angry and bitter about it. When Wufei told her, back on Earth, that the lists were stolen, she wanted to get up, find the thieves and kill them.

The Firebender stops. Wufei has been avoiding her since they arrived to the factory. Was he really that upset at her playful antics when she woke up? Did he know she was kidding? Zumi knows that they can never really have that type of carnal relationship. Hell, she thinks they're rather lucky he hasn't left them with all the random illegal shit they've been doing. However, he did listen to her request to lay off Ally and her leadership skills. With a huff, Zumi runs her hand through her hair and has come to the conclusion that Wufei can have mood swings as wonky as a teenage girl's.

"Zumi!"

She turns to see Quatre walking towards her with his usual bright smile. It still astounds her that he's Arab, but he said his mother looked just like him.

"Hey, Quatre, what's up?"

"Nothing really. I'm just…sort of bored," he responds with a small laugh.

"That kind of happens when you're hiding," she replies with a grin, "What have you been up to?"

"Trying to figure this place out. I don't have a map, so I'm learning on my own. It's much larger than I first thought. Has Ally made any decisions yet?"

She winces. The Airbender hasn't been seen since the second day after arriving to the station. If or when she moves to get food and to do other things, no one knows when she does it. Not even Duo or Heero know. Even Kit gave up trying to force her to do things and only knocks on the door when food is ready to let her know some is in the kitchen and there will most likely be leftovers.

"I haven't seen her," she mummers, looking to the window again, "but she'll come to us when she thinks she's ready."

"It's very strange the way she handles things," he says, leaning on the sill.

"She thinks well when she is alone, at times," she says with a shrug, "It's just the way she processes things. Besides, it's not like we can do a lot of things around here."

Another sigh escapes her lungs while she looks solemnly to the stars. To bend that type of fire would be amazing, but Firebenders weren't made for space.

"It seems…as though none of you ladies enjoy space."

Zumi snaps out of her trance and looks at Quatre. She has no idea how long he was watching her, or even if he was for a while.

"We're not meant for it. The word Earthling may mean humans born on the Earth, but we give that word a whole 'nother meaning. We may bend different things, but the Earth is our land and water in our mental realm. It's our source of life in many different ways. I feel like every time I leave the planet, I'm leaving my family for the first time, even if it's for a short amount of time. This is the worst kind of homesickness one could ever get."

She won't admit that she also feels pretty powerless when she is away from her orbiting home. What kind of Firebender would she be if she didn't keep her pride intact?

"I can understand that, but I was born in this lifeless vacuum," he says, looking back outside, "I do love the Earth and I do feel connected to it, but space gives me a warm sensation that is different than the one Earth gives me. To float in that cold void is a wonderful feeling despite its lifelessness."

"I was born in space, too," she says and he looks back at her with wide eyes, "At least, I think so. Even though this open area is my birth place, the Earth is my heart and power. Now, doesn't that sound corny?"

She laughs at herself and Quatre smiles, happy to learn something new. The two of them have to share a room now, since the rooms only came to be five without counting the infirmary room that can only hold three people at a time. Trowa and Heero didn't really care who they shared a room with. Quatre was more than happy to live with one of the females considering that he has so many sisters. Wufei flat out refused to room with a woman, of course. Duo said he might feel a bit too awkward sleeping in the same room with a female who was used to being around their same gender. He told the women that every time he slept in the same general area of a woman, he somehow ended up getting the crap kicked outta him. Kit laughed and said that 02 might have either said something or did something to the woman while he was sleeping and didn't even know it.

Ally said a flat out no to rooming with one of the men as well. Zumi was the first to sacrifice her womanly privacy and is now roomed with the Arab. After the second or third day, the two found an easy schedule to work with. Most of the time, they both stay out of the room. When it's time for showering, Zumi goes in first, along with all the other women, dresses in the bathroom, and leaves the area in her sleep clothes. For her own benefit and Quatre, the Firebender has taken to wearing a sports bra a night, despite how uncomfortable it can be at times when she sleeps in it. Quatre then leaves and showers with the men and waits to enter the room until Zumi is settled in bed. That way, since the rooms are so small, they won't knock into one another trying to move around to get ready for bed.

"I guess we should gather everyone to make something to eat for lunch," Quatre says and walks to where he entered.

"I have no idea how you can tell time here. I rise with the sun, but that's the only form of time conception I have in space," Zumi comments and walks with him.

* * *

Trowa sits at a desk with very old factory records, or what's left of them. He wonders why this place wasn't targeted during the war. It seemed like a prominent choice at the time. This puzzle is only something to entertain Trowa since he has nothing better to do. The area that they're in is so fragile that the women can't bend much, if none at all. Ally, Hana and Kit are the only ones to do minor bender. He flips through another yellowed sheet of paper and places it in the "useless" pile, which happens to be all of the papers he's looked at so far. Most of it is unfinished or missing inventory and quota counts. All he needs is a title sheet and he might be lucky to find a symbol. He hasn't asked the women yet because he wants to find this on his own. Trowa's not one to get riled up or anxious, but this place makes him a little worried because of its poor condition. The tall pilot has had a strange feeling of this place since arriving.

He decided that instead of asking one of the women, he would find out on his own. Even if this activity is pointless, it takes away some stress and burns time. So far, this place provides nothing. With a quiet, but annoyed huff Trowa throws down another sheet of paper. Despite how well these women have learned to blend in, he can still see flaws in their efforts to hide things. They are all doing the right thing by ignoring whatever they are hiding. In fact, that is one of the best methods. Still, there are some suspicious activities that they haven't covered or come clean with.

The first thing that struck Trowa as odd was their dealing with the Black Market and what products they were buying. Kit assured him it was to upgrade the current suits they have the best they can, but the money for the orders seemed a bit too high. More than they should be for just some minor upgrades, despite the high risk of the items. Naturally, mobile suits and equipment would be ridicules in their price range, but there was mention of some form of "surprise" a while back. The suits haven't been updated in a while and there doesn't seem to be any reason for it. The weapons are as good as it gets for the condition and model of the suits. So, why?

What have these strange women assembled for the pilots? What are they planning to do with whatever they bought from the B.M.? There is nothing Trowa can do about this cumbersome question right now. He will just have to wait for someone to say something or for something to happen. Another oddity that annoys him is Ally. How did she and Hailey load the suits up so quickly without any other help? What would an Airbender offer an Earthbender when moving solid metal that weighs a good few tons? He admits that air is strong, but it would take a lot of concentration to lift a single suit. Wouldn't Hailey be able to handle that by herself and finish only a minute or so after without help? Ally shouldn't be able to so easily move the suits without throwing them recklessly. Wufei did mention how he noticed that those two practice the most and, strangely, not in the front main room where all sparing and training took place. What are those two hiding? All these random activities makes Trowa mistrust the women more.

Then there is the issue with the Avatar. He sighs and rubs his forehead. Makes him wonder what kind of hell he wandered into when accepting this mission. The mission is not so difficult, but all these unfinished and looming details leave him more than uneasy. Right now, it's just to stay alive and hidden and he's been doing that for years before and after he was called No Name. This form of helplessness will remedy itself one way or another, but this confusing interaction with the women…it will not be fixed so easily. Ally shows too much of an emotional reaction to the Avatar and his previous orders along with Markus. Even when she is merely speaking tactically about him, Trowa notices a spiteful glimmer in her face and tone. It makes him wonder if there is some link he is missing, whether it's another heart-breaking story or something bigger that he can't see.

"I hate this annoying feeling," he mutters with his head leaning back, "It doesn't seem right."

He needs to stop. If Trowa thinks anymore, his head might explode. With another sigh, he rises and stretches his back for a moment. He doesn't remember how long he's been sitting here, but it feels like an hour or so. Trowa exits the room and nearly bumps into Hana. The Waterbender stumbles back with a surprised look. She blinks at him for a moment and then gives a small and slightly strained smile. Hana has always been a little nervous around Trowa and Heero. For some reason, she was always afraid that she would do something wrong around them.

"I was looking for you. It's time for lunch," she says, brightening her smile somewhat, "What were you doing in there, anyway?"

"Nothing important," he responds, "I just wanted to know a little more about this place."

"Oh, well, why didn't you just ask," she responds and the two start to walk, "The reason why this place is in our possession is because this used to be a factory owned and ran by Markus. We came in undercover during the war you fought in and helped destroy the place. We sort of figured he wouldn't look at one of his destroyed factories for us if we had to run."

"That's true," he responds with a nod.

The two continue in an awkward silence. Trowa has nothing to talk about and Hana doesn't know how to start a conversation with him. The most she's heard from this tall man was only a few sentences at best, so all she can do is talk shop. However, Hana isn't stupid enough not to know he won't talk shop nor would he like to. So the two walk all the way to the only functional kitchen where everyone is gathered. Accept for the Airbender. Trowa believes that what the Airbender is doing is immature. It's not helping anyone when she's locked herself away; her actions could actually hinder the groups' moral. She's the leader of the Origin Unit and she hasn't been seen since arriving to the deserted space factory.

The large group sits at a shaky table and consumes dried foods and water. Kit already misses whole, moist foods. She's only been here for a little and she's already craving a hamburger and an apple. Not together, but both of those items would be very nice right about now. Kit glances slowly to everyone in the room. The woman huffs a bit, not uncommon in the troupe at the moment. She is worried about everyone. Surprisingly, Zumi and Quatre are getting along in their new living situation. The Waterbender smiles for a moment. Who couldn't get along with Quatre unless he was your enemy? He's just so nice, understanding and adorable. Kit has no misconceptions of the blonde man, however. She knows that, despite his want for peaceful means, he was and is a Gundum pilot and will be haunted by that title along with his capabilities.

"Hey, Hailey," Kit pipes up in the dense silence, "You think Ally'll come out alive from the monitoring station?"

"Maybe. I left a plate of food by her door. She might actually need food by now," the Earthbender replies.

The meal continues with some slight tension. The fact that the Airbender has horded herself up hasn't been well taken by any of the men. The women understand why Ally needs to be isolated for a period of time, especially after this disaster, and a few days isn't that long. Each woman knows that if any of them attempted to explain the reason why to the men, they would just end up arguing and pulling out more information than any of the females are willing to give over. Just before the meal ends, the door slides with a rattling creak. The elusive Airbender stands in the doorway with frazzled hair, deep and dark lines under her dulled blue eyes. The last two days haven't been gentle or kind.

"You look like hell, airhead," Zumi says to break the surprise, "and welcome back to what civilization we have."

"I guess I would after the last forty-eight hours," she mummers, "but I have some…annoying news about Markus."

"Every time you appear, woman, you seem to be the reaper of troubles," Wufei growls.

"I have bad luck like that, sue me," Ally retorts tiredly, "For the last hour, something has appeared on the radar. I figured it to be a transporter or something but it only takes half an hour to pass by this place, even going very slowly. Before I came here, I locked on to the motion but the computer reported none."

"Perhaps it's a drifting craft" Hana offers optimistically, "or perhaps there are some castaways that ran out of fuel."

The futile words died as soon as they hit the air. It takes fuel for the craft to stay in place out in the gravity less place. There is no reason for the craft to be there expect if it is unfriendly or if it's a small expedition searching for scrap pieces to sell or reusable items.

"If it's a group of scrapers looking for usable items, do we dissuade them?" Kit questions, taking another bit out of her dried food.

"I think so. It's not hard to convince some scrapers that abandoned stations are haunted. We should only hope that they're scrapers," Ally replies and takes a seat at the table with a sigh, "If not, we'll have to take flight again."

The men have heard of scrapers before. Duo actually ran into a few over the years before he became a Preventer. Maybe he can persuade whoever is on the ship that everyone here is a crew already scrapping this place. Ally rises with a rough sigh and leaves, most likely to go back to the monitoring room. Hailey follows Ally and silently asks her if she can come in the monitoring room as well. The Airbender offers no resistance but tells her to lock the door. The screen shows no changes and no new activity. Hailey takes the seat Ally has used for the last two days. It's still warm from the redhead's body heat, a small testament to the length she's been sitting there.

"The guys are getting antsy."

Ally shrugs uncaringly at the comment. The guys will never truly be comfortable around the women.

"They're not used to how you operate. They're going to need some reassurance."

"I know, but I can't tell them anything," she responds, "Nothing they want to hear and no excuses. They won't swallow any truths I give them. You saw how Wufei reacted when he learned about the last orders of the Avatar. Each of them thought something along the same thing Wufei said. The hell I supposed to tell them now?"

"Well, what about an apology?" the Earthbender offers with a shrug.

"After this little ship is dealt with."

"Then you got the answers you needed?"

"Give or take. Dead people always make things so cryptic."

"I thought they were supposed to be like that."

The Airbender glares at Hailey and her grinning features. With a snort of annoyance, Ally types in some different commands on the consol. The machines zoom in on the ship as fast as they can, considering the beating the station had. It's ironic that the benders destroyed this place and yet are using the last leg the station has to survive. The cameras detect minor movement and locks on the new target. Three people are seen in space suits as they float to the station. The two give grimaces and Ally gives a deep sigh.

"When they board, see if they hold any weapons on them."

Hailey nods and waits to see what entrance the trio plan to use. It will be difficult to pinpoint anything on them since this place is made of metal. Sometimes she mistakes the wireing and piping in the wall for something else. The suits on the three people don't depict a crest or logo of any sort. Patience is key right now, but Ally only has a few wise choices to make and she doesn't want to make any of them. The best scenario would be that they entered on a side that isn't active and can't be repaired. That way, with the life support system out, these three people will be forced for a short visit.

However, if they guess to come in around the entrance where the ten people are…they will be scared away, killed, or taken prisoner. All three of these options are will let the enemy know of their position and they will have to move. Perhaps they can do something to mislead them. Ally knows that her group can move easily. It's the other units she's worried about. She has no idea if they suffered casualties of any kind and doesn't know about the supplies or means of transportation at the other units' disposal. That kind of information can be picked up by the enemy too easily. There is always a possibility of hacked and intercepted messages. If these three are looking for her and her unit, what makes the other units less susceptible to discovery?

"Shit," Hailey growls.

The trio decides to give the troupe the worst three scenarios. Hailey leaves before Ally can even tell her to. The redhead decides it's best to darken the corridors to give the broken down and abandoned feeling to the three people. The Airbender rushes to the kitchen where everyone is still partaking in a meal.

"They're coming in our entrance," she blurts, "Hailey is off to find what she can about them. We may just be able to pass off as space rats."

"What do you want us to do?" Quatre asks, rising from his chair.

"Surround them in intersecting corridors and cut off their exit route, but stay out of sight," she replies, "They have entered around the hangar. I want half to go to the back and half at the front. We are to make a circle around them if possible. Let's move."

The nine people rush out and quickly catch up to Hailey. Ally asks the Earthbender to fall back and that she'll attempt to fool these people. Hailey relays that, as far as she can tell, the three don't have firearms or any other obtrusive objects, such as blades or rods, but to still be wary. The ebony woman melts into the newly darkened corridors. With an insecure breathe, the redhead starts down the hall. After twenty paces, Ally slows, feeling someone coming towards her. Three small beams of light gradually grow and focus on her.

"Stop!"

Ally immediately throws her hands wide and in the air with a confused and scared expression. The three people still have helmets on. She can't see their faces. One comes forward a little and moves the light down once, then up and down once more.

"State your business here!" he demands.

"My business? I just live here," Ally lies, "Me and my friends, man."

"How long have you and your friends lived here?"

"Not long, just a few days," she answers with her hands still wide, "Our ship is out of fuel, so we're sorta stuck here. We're trying to work out a distress signal to get some fuel, but nearly all of the machines in this place are busted up too bad."

"Was anyone here before you?"

"Nuh-uh," she replies with wide eyes. Ally takes note of that particular question. That means these people are looking for someone or a number of people.

"Hey, are you guys' scrapers or something? The only thing that works here is the gravity system and the life support and some stuff in the kitchen," Ally relays with a small tone of hope, "We don't want no trouble."

"Where are your friends?"

"I don't know. I was just taking a walk around the area to try and think of something that can make the distress signal work when I ran into you guys."

The man that has been talking with the Airbender turns to one of his companions and tells this one to search her. Ally winces and tries to remember if she has any firearms or knives on her. Her mind does a quick check and she realizes that she left her gun in the monitoring station. Gloved hands pat her down and check her tennis shoes. The person pats upwards and lingers for a moment around the side of her chest with a small chuckle. Suppressing her breathe, Ally does her best not to punch this person's lights out.

"She's clean," he says to the man in the middle of the group.

"I've been answering a lot of questions for you and have been cooperating very well," Ally grumbles, "Would you mind answering some of my questions? All I want to know is if you guys are scrapers or not."

"Why would you like to know that?" the man in the middle asks.

"I wanna know if you guys are going to kill me or not," she flatly retorts, "Those are usually nice things to know."

"We're looking for some people. In fact, I would like to see your friends right now. One of them might be someone we're looking for."

Ally hides her wince by cocking her head to the side. "Well, what do these people look like? It could be a while until we find my friends since I don't know where they are and they aren't going to stay in one place for us to find them."

"How many do you have?"

"Including me, there are three of us. Perhaps if you tell me what they look like, I could point you in a good direction. We came from a colony not too far from here."

"No, I don't think you can help us," the man says, shaking his helmed head, "Let us just see your other two friends and if we think they aren't who we're looking for, we'll leave."

Which means they don't know the faces of the unit. Ally is happy that she made it a priority to mask themselves on every mission and disguise themselves when in the midst's of civilians.

"Alright, if that's the only way I can help you, come with me and watch your step," Ally says and reluctantly turns her back to them. She hopes that one of the people ahead heard all of that. They should have so she should be intercepted soon. After about fifty paces, they come to the first door on the right. It slowly slides open and Hailey steps out.

"Hey, what's going on?" she asks, throwing her arm up to block out the sudden light.

"These men are lookin' for some people," Ally explains and jabs her thumb to the other woman, "Does she look like someone you're lookin' for?"

"Search her," he says to the same man that searched Ally. She hopes the Earthbender doesn't have anything incriminating on her person. The man's hands linger on Hailey as well and she glares at him.

"Clean as well."

"Who are you in this little operation, then?" the man in charge questions.

"I'm the pilot in our 'little operation,' as you call it. She's our navigator," the ebony woman replies with pursed lips, "I take it you not scrapers."

Instead of answering, the men press the two women ahead while Ally asks where their other friend is. Hailey replies that she's not sure. Perhaps in the kitchen. The two give one another nervous looks and hope someone is close enough to reach the said area. The five people eventually reach the kitchen. Ally opens the door and sticks her head in saying a loud hello only to receive a silent answer.

"Hey, where did you guys find flashlights?"

The men whirl with something small and rectangular in their hands, poised to through at poor Quatre. Ally notices it's a small explosive enough to harm a person but not the ship.

"Whoa, sorry that I scared you," he says with his hands in the air, "I thought that my friends finally found a light source. It's a little difficult to wander around in the dark."

Like the others, the men search the blonde Arab to find his person clean as well. They allow Quatre to walk over to the women and give them a solid smile. Even though they're basically hostages to these three men, he knows that the others have him surrounded for backup. The three opposing men confer with one another. Even with the echoes in this abandoned factory, the two benders and Arab can't hear them.

"Take us to where the control systems are in this sector."

Ally grimaces softly and nods. She leads them silently to where the control systems are. The Airbender's mind races on what to do. These men aren't stupid enough to know when control consuls that aren't supposed to be working are functioning right in front of them. Those three previous possibilities flare up again, but she knows that all of those options will end badly. Another choice comes up, one she didn't really consider. It could still cause some issues, but her actions might throw these men off their trails for a good while. A few weeks, maybe even a few months. Considering the other options, this one seems to be the best to Ally. She opens the control room door and enters it. The screen is on with a message displayed. Hailey glances at Ally's confused face. Neither left the message screen up. One man goes to the screen and taps a few keys to find that it's frozen. He reads the font on the screen and curses in German.

"Let them go. There're not here," he says and kicks the chair in front of the screen, "They might have been a while before these rats came here."

"Hey, we rats have feelings you know," Hailey huffs back, either from keeping character or from reflex.

"We're leaving. It's pointless here."

"Well…might you guys spare some fuel if you have any extra or something?" Ally asks in a soft voice. She has a feeling that, even though it would be nice to score some free oil, it won't happen.

"I hear space rats are resourceful," the man that checked the women for weapons says, "I'm sure you'll find something you can use. Unless you ladies would like to come with us?"

"You're right, we are resourceful," the Earthbender snaps back with a ridged face, "We'll be just fine."

The three men leave while the others stay in the room. The other might escort them back to the entrance from where the three men came from. Ally allows herself a large sigh and slumps against the wall. Hailey goes to read the frozen message on the screen. Pretty soon, she starts to laugh.

"Who ever put this here is brilliant!" she exclaims, throwing her arms wide, "Listen to this!

'Dear Markus cronies,

Right now you must be combing space, freezing your balls off for no reason since we're not here. Good luck continuing your fruitless and fuck-less space hunt for us!

Love,

Origin Unit'"

Ally bursts into laughter and slides to the floor. She finds that this little note has made her feel a great deal better. The Airbender supposes the saying that laughter is the best medicine is right.

"Who wrote that?" Quatre asks with a restrained smile.

"We did."

The three look to Duo and Wufei standing in the doorway.

"It was Wu-man's idea to leave some bait and freeze the system temporarily," Duo explains with a grin, "and we decided to write a message."

"The language is obviously from him," the Chinese man says sticking his thumb to the American.

"Obviously," Quatre repeats with a chuckle.

"Thanks you two. You really don't know how you saved our asses here," Ally says, getting up from her seat against the wall, "I was afraid we'd have to do something a little less clean."

"What, you mean attacking them or something?" 02 asks.

"Or something," she responds, "I know a method of kind of erasing some of their memories with a well aimed hit to the temple."

"That? I thought you didn't know if that worked," Hailey cuts in.

"Well…I sorta tried it on myself," the Airbender responds with a sheepish grin.

Awkward silence follows and she looks around to the others.

"What?"

"You hit yourself to see if something would work?" Wufei asks flatly.

"Yeah, I wouldn't do it to the other women and I didn't exactly have chances to use it on opposing people," Ally explains, putting her hands on her hips, "I needed to see whether or not they remember doing some a few minutes before the hit and if they remembered getting hit in the first place. I wrote myself a note and what I did fifteen minutes before hand."

"…I knew you were a bit of a masochist, but really, airhead?" Hailey says.

"Shuddap," she snaps back, "Besides, I think it worked. I don't really remember what happened before I hit myself and I don't remember the hit, but I did have a small headache after it."

The four continue to stare at the odd bending leader.

"…You are so weird," Duo says, "Incredibly resourceful, but a little messed up in the head.

Ally glares at him.

"That's because she hit her head," Wufei comments with a smirk and Quatre chuckles, "Such self-abuse causes abnormalities."

"Bite me. Besides, rather be weird than normal," she mutters, "Who knows, I might have turned out to be like Wufei if I was normal."

02 and Hailey chuckle. The group walk out of the room after Wufei and Duo put the systems back to normal. Kit and Hana made sure that the uninvited guests made it to the docking station. Ally switches the power back on full when the ship couldn't be detected any longer by the sensors. Lunch continues with a dampened air and the missing member of the group of ten. The Airbender fiddles with her plate of food for a moment, listening to her close friends talk to these five men. Without meaning to, she has become close to all five men on some friendly level. Now, she feels guilty for holding secrets from them when they could know that there is information withheld from them. Before, lying and secrecy to other people was a survival method.

Now with these men apart of their unit, she wasn't sure if these secrets and lies should continue. Ally knows she will have to have a small conference with the women about this and it must be done, _surprisingly_, secretly. If the men know that there is something only the benders could discuss, most anger and distrust will be entrenched and she doesn't want that. Ally is sick and tired of all this bullshit with keeping things quiet between her unit members. No, not just between her unit, but between people she considers friends. This will have to wait, though. Something else must be done now.

"I'm sorry," she whispers.

Heero hears her and stops eating. She looks up at 01's calm face and finds some kind of stability in it. With a shaky breath she starts again.

"I'm sorry," she repeats louder.

Everyone stops this time and looks at the Airbender.

"I'm sorry for isolating myself without a word of explanation and…I'm sorry that I still can't give you an explanation as to why I isolated myself."

"Why can't you explain yourself?" Trowa asks.

"I know that whatever reasoning I give, it will only cause more discord in our group and I don't want that. Personally, I don't want to punch someone again because I know it will eventually lead to that," she explains with her head down.

"If you don't want any discord, then stop trying to hide things from us, onna," Wufei calmly responds and continues to eat.

She looks at the man with wide and considering eyes. It seems that the redhead doesn't give enough credit to Wufei when he is calm. Hana smiles brightly at Ally and continues to eat. She is very proud of her friend and of Wufei for taking the apology and offering a remark without yelling it. Despite the disposition and quietness Ally displays, Hana knows that she is a very kind hearted person. At one point in the past, Hana wondered if she was too kind hearted; that her want for friends and acts of mercy would be her undoing.

As they all grew older, Hana saw that Ally's kind heartedness was her strength and that her actions and reactions to the women gave them strength and reassurance in what they were doing. Hana hopes she's kind as well and she knows that Kit is very kind and playful. At one point she thought that perhaps Kit or she should have been the leader. Ally can handle the emotional burden. Kit and Hana would either close up their emotions or break down completely. Ally can take it and still stay kind. It must take a kind person to be a leader. Of course, Machiavelli would disagree.

The afternoon continues quietly.

* * *

Kit can't help but worry that the apology between Ally and the pilots didn't go over well. To be more exact, she's worried that Wufei won't accept the apology for the inadequate explanation. He didn't make an indication either way, so the Waterbender is completely uncertain. She looks to her friend. Ally hasn't said anything since she got here. In fact, the redhead hasn't moved at all. Her arms are propping her low head. Hailey and Hana haven't said anything either and Hana is the only one, besides Kit, that shifts every so often.

Perhaps Ally has considered telling the Gundum pilots a little more of their plans. Kit has never been very good at lying and she just plainly doesn't like to do it. Withholding information is just another way of lying to her. Trust is something that isn't easily formed between people, especially ones that have been shot at most of their lives. Kit knows that these men are beyond competent to hear the extent of the B.M. plans. She also knows that none of them are stupid. This secret can only be hidden for so long.

Above all people, she feels that she can trust Heero with almost anything. It's surprising considering she doesn't know anything about his past, which is something she normally worries about. The Waterbender feels as though it doesn't matter if she knows his past. Through so many little things she has come to trust him as a person and the fact that he went out of his way to give her space when he asked about her parents. Despite his frosted disposition to people, she knows from previous actions that he's empathetic and can be sympathetic. He's a great deal more compassionate than most people she has met. Perhaps Ally has finally found these hidden traits not only in 01, but in all the pilots. Zumi walks in and shuts the door. Ally presses a button at the control panel and locks the room and shuts the sound system off for safety.

"Alright, airhead, what's up with this secret meeting?" the Firebender asks. Leave it to Zumi or Hailey to be blunt.

"I can't―I can't change past decisions, but I can regret them," Ally starts, gripping the consol at little, "Even with the regret, we must work with what is left over from bad choices and I'm sorry for putting everyone in this position. I―I think we should tell them what it is exactly we've been putting together from the B.M. They earned it a long time ago."

The women are silent in their own ways, some angry, some relieved.

"You're right, about everything," Kit begins, her voice low and upset, "You should be sorry for putting everyone in this position and ashamed. You have thought of this too late and you didn't listen when we said we should tell them straight out, even after they helped with the B.M." Her voice grows louder with every word. "These men should have been told a long time ago and should have stopped being treated like some common people off the street! It's your paranoia that has done this and jeopardized this trust we've created and telling them this could royal screw this up!"

Silence reverberates once more and the Waterbender sits down. She really doesn't remember getting out of her chair. Ally takes her friend's yelling in full and accepts it. Everyone has created some friendships with the men and she has not only messed up their chance of victory, but also the integrity of their relationships.

"I have no excuse for my actions and I am truly sorry," Ally replies. There's nothing else she can do at this particular moment in time.

The four women look to another and Zumi smirks.

"Don't worry about it, Ally," she replies, "We all accept your apology. The guys might be a little more difficult to convince, though."

"Do you want to tell them…the other thing?" Hailey asks.

Ally shifts uncomfortably, slipping her hands under her thighs while looking to the floor.

"I'm unsure. I asked and got mixed answers."

"We'll have to see how long they will take to calm down," Kit states, "They're going to be madder than a hell demon in a bucket of ice water from the north pole. We can make a decision after that."

"The question is, when and where for our little surprise?" Hana chimes in, looking between Kit and Ally.

"Tonight, before everyone goes to bed, would be best," Kit says before anyone could throw ideas out, "That way they can at least sleep on this bomb we're about to set off at their feet."


	10. Chapter 10

Sat finally back with more stories. I could rant about how my life is hectic right now, but even I don't wanna hear that or read that. So, on towards the story instead. It seems that the g-boys are about to learn something big.

Chapter Ten: What has Marcus done?

Only a day has passed since the scouts left the troupe. Things are still a little tense, needless to say. Since those men left, Quatre has been bending and weaving his mind, trying to come up with some kind of confrontational plan. He wants to talk to the women and to learn more. There must be another reason why the Airbender locked herself away for two days straight. Said bender is sleeping at the moment. The Arab knows that the fact that Ally is sleeping is a miracle. Before they left Earth, he has seen and heard the redhead moving around at night. One particular evening, when it seemed like the living rock around them slept, he went to the kitchen for some water. As he passed by the forayer, he saw her there slowly working through fighting sequences blindfolded. The fold wasn't necessary because the lights weren't on and in that place, one can't see anything. He quickly covered the flame on his candle with his hand, nearly burning himself.

Quatre has never seen something so pathetic in his life. The woman slowly worked through her body, feeling every single move she made and where it would go. The motion was strong, sure and as smooth as a summer breeze. There was control, confidence and beauty. But there was also something else. Sadness, frustration that made her waver, angry, filled with resignation; she bled sorrow and resistance. It was in this moment that Quatre knew, and still knows, that Ally resents her position as a leader and as a soldier. The young man surprised himself by not noticing how not only Ally feels, but all the women feel about their lots in life. He was even told how they were chosen at a young age to be the magistrates for their entire race; something they had no say in. As he did before, Quatre runs through all the fighting or sparing scenes he witnessed and compares all those to the first demonstrations the women gave the men those months ago.

Sure, Zumi and Hailey fought with vigor. Despite that eagerness, there was something he noticed after replaying all the events in his head and comparing them to that one introduction. They were hesitant and reluctant. Even the Earthbender and Firebender fumbled in their own hearts about fighting. The Waterbenders worked efficiently enough in a fight, but the two could easily overtake any place if Hana and Kit planned it well. With a simple action, the two could freeze their enemies' mercilessly. Mercy. That was really the heart of most problems. The hesitancy comes from it and the resistance creates it. Quatre has mercy, even if it's slowly wearing away. He has offered it more than once to many different enemies, even if most didn't deserve it. But there is one key difference. When there is no talk for truces and kind thoughts have been slapped away, he will swiftly take his opponents out without much thought until after he is done with them.

The women…can't completely shut their thoughts and feelings out. No, even when the lists were stolen, he could see hope and unwanted pain. Yes, he can see how the different emotions roll through these strange women. When they proved that they could indeed bend elements with them, to their personal wills, the women were happier. They all seemed proud that they could share their gifts with other people. Yes, the benders don't resent their ability or heritage.

No, it's what they have to do to protect it. In order to save themselves and the Earth and Colonies from another war, the benders must attack their own dying race. In order to save their race, they must kill part of it. He huffs a sigh and runs his hand through his bangs. Somehow, his goggles that he used when a Gundam pilot wound up in his fidgety hands. When does mercy stop and begin? He can understand just how he can handle his past actions. Eventually, Quatre came to terms with what he did and learned to accept his consequences. He didn't reason or logic his actions to himself for a just cause. Some things he did can't be seen as a type of justice. A very large example that still pains the blonde man is when he fell to the Wing Zero System…and went a little bit off the deep end.

He doesn't understand the women enough. Doesn't know enough. Doesn't have a decent history of them. Because of his ignorance, he can't find out anything about these women. They certainly won't tell anything as well. Quatre has little doubt that the women won't reveal anything they don't want to unless they do so willingly. The question now is how to approach them. Truthfully, he doesn't even know what to ask them. Perhaps he shouldn't even ask them anything and just wait and earn their trust. After all, Zumi let Quatre in her history a little by telling him she might have been born in space along with why she and the other benders are uncomfortable in space. That is some kind of progress.

What happened to them? It's a bit of a rhetorical question, but one he feels must be more explored and one that can't be answered without some kind of help. The only thing he can really do, he decides, is to analyze the information he currently has to try and understand the benders. Quatre will have to exclude personal pasts and just work with what he knows. These women were taken around the world at a young age and most likely didn't have a good deal of interaction with other people, let alone kids their own age. Constant moving is another factor. Perhaps the constant movement away from people has closed them off. Another event could have individually closed them off to other people as well. After all, the entire resistance that the Avatar created was betrayed from the inside by someone close to all the women. He shakes his head furiously. All this information is too obvious and doesn't need that much more looking into. He needs later information from before the bender met one another and what happened after they were betrayed.

That right there is the key matter. Quatre realizes what he really wants to know; he knows what his priority is. He wants to know what the plans are. Because he can't pinpoint how each of them thinks, he can't guess what they have planned. It makes him nervous. The blonde slides to the floor of the viewing deck, back against the wall. He knows he should feel bad for being so pragmatic to these women, women who deserve more friendly contact, but he doesn't. His heart sinks at that. Why doesn't he feel guilty or like he should try and fix his pragmatic side to balance the humane side of him? Quatre always worried that the Wing Zero System did more to him than he thought. After that experience, as horrible as he felt for so long after, a small part of him didn't feel the least bit horrible. No, it was justified somehow. Quatre knows it's a horrible side effect from the system, but he is worried that it's growing more out of control. He doesn't act as much on it now that the Gumdams aren't around anymore. As long as there aren't than many threats around, he can control his random trigger-finger. The Zero Effect seems to spread into his everyday life now when he isn't provoked or faced with an enemy. He finds himself becoming more apathetic.

Of course, there is nothing he can do about that. The door slides opened next to him and Hana walks in with a small smile. This one is particularly confusing. He remembers the first mission he had with her and how her demeanor changed so drastically. Due to that change, he wonders how she really acts around people when she isn't on her guard. Quatre returns the smile despite his doubt about the Waterbender as she takes a seat next to him. At first, neither says anything. Hana fiddles with her hands nervously as he watches her from his peripheral vision. What is she supposed to say? Hana is someone that will usually leave someone alone unless she has something to say. She is shy that way.

"I was wondering where you were," she mummers towards her hands, "I haven't seen you in a while."

"Sorry, I tend to wander when I'm thinking," he chuckles lightly."

"It's nothing to be sorry about."

Silence drifts between them, though it isn't a very tense one. In spite of how little he knows about Hana, he finds himself willingly trusting her, whether he wants to or not. He can't help but notice the peculiar way she tilts her head against the wall or how unfocused her eyes are. Quatre likes to believe that he knows his feelings well enough and he can notice some signs within him that are leading to a dangerous and unnecessary road. So he does what he's been doing for the last few weeks, he smothers those observations and the feelings accompanying them.

"We're…we're having a meeting in the docking port in a few minutes."

"Oh? What for?"

"This place might be compromised, so Ally wants to get everyone together to ask what it is we should do," she explains with a shrug, "We do have one other place, but this was the better option and we were found out so easily already."

"Is she expecting us there now?"

"Whenever we have the time. She's just pacing like a crazy person in there, so I'm sure she won't notice the time that has gone by. We aren't going to leave for a while, unless we get a good idea or something like that."

"I suppose we shouldn't keep her waiting if she's pacing like a crazy person," he says and gets up. He offers a hand to the Waterbender and she happily takes it.

While Quatre may not have seem to be the most active of the Gundam members, his hands are still calloused from different activities that were required during wars. The difference between his hands and Hana's astounds him. They're completely smooth, as though they have never seen a day of hard work. She is a soldier, though. How is it that she can keep such smooth hands?

The Waterbender clears her throat and gently takes her hand from his with an awkward blush. He mummers an apology and the two walk to where the ten people first arrived. The Airbender is indeed pacing, one hand gripping the other behind her back. The majority of everyone is already here. The only people that seem to be missing are Hailey and Trowa.

"Airhead, would you sit down or something?" Zumi whines, rubbing her forehead, "You're making me antsy."

Ally stops as though she just noticed other living creatures in the same room as her, huffs a sign and takes a seat on the ground next to Kit. She doesn't know what to do with her friend sometimes. Heaven and Earth know that Kit loves Ally to death, but sometimes she just wants to smack the girl. Perhaps that is true friendship. However, Kit wouldn't really be able to compare their friendship with others because she hasn't really witnessed other friendships. Yeah, the men are here, but right now are not really the time for observations. They're in the middle of a war and the guys met each other through the previous war (if what Une told them was right). Maybe only true friendships can strike up during wars? She shakes her head and the thoughts away. Now isn't really the time to worry about this. The benders came to a decision a while ago and right now is the time to focus on that. How far can the women push the pilots trust and patience? Telling them what is in the cargo holds in the shuttle the ten came in will undoubtedly make them angry, to say the least. Trowa comes in with Hailey in tow.

"Good, we're all here," Ally says, standing, "There are two things we really need to talk about. The first is where we're going to go. There was two safe houses, this being one of them, that we could have gone to. This one seemed like the best option and we were found immediately. Marcus is moving faster than any of us really know."

"Get to your point," Wufei mutters with a glare.

"Point is: we have no more options in hiding spots. If this one was found first, the other place is no better if not worse. Choosing that place is screaming for Marcus to come and kill us," Zumi fires back with a glare, "We're meeting to brainstorm and see if there is any place we can hide and to hide our shuttle."

"If not, then we have to stay here," Trowa states more to himself than to others.

"Basically," Kit says with a nod, "If you guys have any ideas, we'd love to hear 'em."

"There are a couple of other places we know of," Hailey throws in, "But we'd have to leave the shuttle and we can't really abandon that thing. It takes care of having to find/steal another one and we can't make too many ripples right now."

The group sits in silence, each trying to come up with something decent. The real question is if they do find a place, how would they provide for themselves? Unfortunately, they have no money and no real money with them. Kit announced that the government changed the press plates again and the women destroyed the printing press back on Earth. No one but Kit is really sure how she came across that information. When asked, she just winked and said it was a trade secret. Time passes slowly, Duo mumbling some ideas and shaking his head at them. He and Hilde had a falling out and she wouldn't take him in now. He wanted to be a Preventer; she was done with the military life and with him if Duo didn't stay with her and out of the Preventers. Sadly for her, Duo can't stay out of trouble even if he tried so they fell out. Trowa thought about going to Kathrine for two seconds and nearly slapped himself for think that he could bring such danger to his sister and the circus.

Quatre does have a great deal of places to stay at, but if any of those houses or other areas were seen active, the press would be on him like crazy. Wufei always stayed on his own and in the middle of nowhere, but now there are other people to worry about. He literally has no idea where they should go. Heero is no better in that respect either. For once, staying away from people is not helpful. Well, there is one person he can think of to go to…

"Well, I ain't got shit," Zumi says, roughly rubbing her face, "What 'bout you?"

"Me?" Kit says, "The hell makes you think I've got something? Marcus has the lists and there is no doubt that we can't go to the other units places. They're probably torched or something."

"Yeah, I don't have anything either," Duo sighs, "And the only person that could give us a hand doesn't really like me anymore. Howard's outta the question, too."

Wufei and Trowa don't even bother to say anything because they don't have any ideas either.

"I do have a lot of places that we could hide," Quatre pipes in, "But if they're seen to have some kind of activity there, the press will be on us faster than Marcus would."

"So…basically, we're fucked?" Ally questions, looking at everyone.

"…There is…someone I know," Heero nearly whispers, but Ally caught it.

"Yeah, but does that person meet the criteria we're looking for?" Ally asks.

"…We won't be turned away," he replies grudgingly, "and it won't be strange if a shuttle lands around this person's home. She frequently get's visitors from space."

"'She'? Heero, you can't mean her?" Duo cries. Would 01 really be that stupid? He knows what he does to this poor woman and yet he is still going to even suggest using her?

"I know. I would rather not, but we're running out choices and ideas. You know she won't turn us away."

"Yeah, I also know how much a problem that will cause! C'mon, man, think! If we went to her not only with all five of the ex-Gumdam pilots to _her _place," 02 lists off his fingers, " but also the benders in the middle of a war, she'll try to find out and become a liability and she would get in some serious danger. You of all people know she won't keep her nose out of trouble."

After that, all the men knew what Heero suggested. Did he really want to go there? After all these years and with what happened between them?

"Uh…someone want to fill us in?" Zumi asks, flatly and somewhat confused. Pronouns make things a little hard to understand.

"Maybe a little later," Quatre responds, "if any of you hear what he just suggested, no one would want to go. Let's just say that we have a pretty secure location on Earth."

All the women exchange looks and Ally just shrugs and says to get ready as soon as possible. Heero says he needs to contact the person that he mentioned. The Airbender says that the command room is empty and useable. She doesn't feel that she has to tell him to keep the line encrypted considering who he is. Kit watches everyone go and looks particularly at 01. How can she not notice how the young man moves in a slow and agitated way? Everyone leaves the hanger, but she decides to stay.

"What has you so shaken up, Heero?" she mummers to herself, sliding down a wall. Her eyes still linger on the door he exited from. "What happened between you and this other woman?"

A thought rockets in her mind and it confuses her. Why does she care? Yes, sure, Kit does feel a little distressed because of his distress. The Waterbender allows herself to be sympathetic with other people. But for some reason, his aggravation bothers her more than it should and she doesn't understand why. Perhaps it's because this unknown person is another woman and one she doesn't know. However, Kit can't understand why she would be annoyed with Heero because of this person's gender. Why does it matter?

Naturally, Kit knows it has something to do with jealousy. Despite her lack of formal education, she's not ignorant. Why would she feel like this about Heero? The rhetorical question has a rhetorical answer and one she knows already. She can't. Until this war is over and everything is settled, including the pilots' lives, she will smother anything that will cause problems. Katharina is good at ignoring things. The tall woman heaves a sigh and heads to her shared room to check what she packed. They don't know when they would have to move, so she keeps her pack in order and stuffed with all her possessions. Ally already told the others that they will have to temporarily separate from the men to finish the little "surprises" they made for them. A thick ball of sickness hits her.

They won't trust them after this. Kit knows that and so do the other women. Man, she thinks, we fucked up. How can they trust these lying women after the group lands on Earth? Ever since the two different groups met, it's been cryptic lies, unfinished answers and teasing hints. Une forced all the benders to show their defining quality of their heritage. The Waterbender would not be in the least bit surprised if the pilots just left and blew up the things the women built. Kit stopped walking some time ago and is leaning against the hallway. How she wants to disobey Ally's order and just go tell one of them. She shakes her head. No. Even if she does feel this bad for lying to them, Kit would never disobey an order unless she thought it completely wrong. Besides, the men will know eventually and she even thought it was a good idea to keep this from them. The Waterbender continues down the hall, still unsure of what to do besides to wait.

It didn't take long for Heero to receive conformation and a time from whoever he called. Ally waits at the pilot chair as everyone files into the shuttle. Duo shoots her a questioning look, but the Airbender just returns a blank one. Once the last person is on board, she clears her throat a little weakly.

"When we get to our mystery location, we will have to split up for a little while," she starts bluntly, "Kind of figured it would be better to tell you guys before we took off and landed where ever it is we're going."

"Where is it that you'll be going?" Trowa asks, buckling himself in.

"To make a delivery. That cargo isn't the suits," the Airbender explains, "We didn't have the equipment to allow them to fight in space, so they'd be pretty damn useless. The stuff in the back is something that a friend of ours asked for and it's actually important that we deliver."

"Why didn't you tell us that the suits weren't with us?" Wufei growls.

At this point, all the females look nervously to each other.

"Erm, to be completely honest…we forgot to tell you," Ally stammers out with an awkward laugh.

"How in the hell could you forget to tell us something like that?" Duo cries. They've been defenseless this whole time! That doesn't sit well with 02. Yeah, he's gone and winged things before, but some communication would be good when they're on the run with no weapons on them.

"We were a little bit busy trying not to get killed or caught," Kit shakily replies.

A small, very annoyed silence sits awkwardly between them until Heero sighs heavily.

"It would be pertinent that we have important information, such as that, in the future," he says and warms up the machine.

Everyone waits for something more, maybe life threats or something dealing with pain, a gunshot perhaps, but nothing else is said. Zumi shoots Quatre a surprised look, to which he returns and shrugs. He guesses Heero is trying to stay calm for when they land…there. The trip starts out very quietly. Hana checks on Zumi's wound, just for something to do since the Firebender heals quickly, and she checks on Ally. She is bent over in her chair again and rarely moves. Hana gets up just to make her move around so the Airbender won't get stuck or sore. Surprisingly, the shuttle hits the atmosphere with no encounters or attacks. When the shuttle finally stops rattling, Ally sits up and Kit pats her hand with a grin.

"See, you didn't die or anything," she says with a smirk.

In reply the Airbender just glares.

"Seems like she can't talk quiet yet," Hailey comments with a snicker.

"This is Delta One, calling in Sanc Command Base. Requesting permission to land," Heero says into the headset.

"Whoa, wait, what?" Hailey says, sitting straight in her chair, "The what command base?"

"Delta One, you have clearance to land. Use airstrip eight."

"Roger."

"Why are we landing here?" Kit asks at length, looking between all of the pilots.

"Heero knows someone here that will put us up for a while," Duo answers flatly, glaring at 01.

All the women look at him. Heero feels them staring, but pointedly ignores them and continues to guide the craft down to the strip. Kit wonders just who Heero has known in the past and how long those past friendships have lasted. Honestly, she wouldn't think to look in the Sanc Kingdom for refuge. Very rarely do people like them blend in so easily in Pacifism Land. It's not that they try to start trouble or fighting…it just happens that the women attract it. She personally believes that it isn't their fault.

Heero smoothly lands in a private airfield that is a number of miles away from a very large house. 01 and 02 power down the craft and open the hatch to let everyone off. Ally is the last one off, Hailey helping her move. The instant the benders touch physical ground again, each and every one look revitalized. Trowa was told a recount of Quatre and Zumi's conversation about benders and the Earth. Two plain, black cars await them and one man in a suit approaches Heero.

"We have been expecting you. Please, this way," he says, gesturing to the now, open cars.

Instead of reacting to whatever the man said, Heero heads for one of the nondescript cars and gets in. Soon, the rest follow too. The men got into the first car and the women got in the second. There are a few minutes to kill, so Zumi breaks up the tired silence in the car, talking quietly enough so the driver doesn't hear them.

"What the hell?" she hisses to Hana, "Who the hell are we gonna see that's here? Who'd be stupid enough to do this?"

"That gigantic house up should give us a clue," the Waterbender retorts, "Who in the hell do you know that basically owns a palace?"

"The Peacecraft family?" Kit shows skepticism in the name. "Why would they be stupid enough to help out with this? We also have to assume that Heero told quite a bit to whoever this is, or that person wouldn't help us."

"We should just be happy we have somewhere to stay," Ally cuts in, leaning deeply into the seat, "We'll worry about the contradicting ironies of our situation when we get there."

That severs the conversation. Almost.

"…This is still completely random," Hailey mutters and leans against Kit, "But, nothing would be interesting if this stuff didn't happen."

"We'll have to refuel and head out to deliver our presents," Kit comments, patting the Earthbender on the head almost jokingly, "We still have to move stuff around a lot."

"Then…we tell them after we get back?" the Airbender questions, looking out the window.

"Sounds like you're trying to push this back as much as you can," Zumi jokes with a grin. Ally responds with a glare. "I'm in for it."

"Ditto," Hana mutters.

"Same here," Kit and Hailey add.

After a few minutes, the two cars pull into a discreet back driveway blocked by flowers and shrubs. Everyone files out of the cars, the women looking around, the men looking either annoyed or exasperated. Heero still questions his sanity for bring everyone here. Alright, maybe not them. Heero questions why he allowed himself to come here, of all places.

"This way, please," a butler at the door says, and turns inside.

Heero is the first to follow, the rest of the pilots closely following and the women gradually follow. The hallway is long, white and gold and very wide. The palace vaguely reminds Kit of the Palace of Versailles. She doesn't know if that is a good sign or not, considering Versailles history. She shrugs it off and catches up with the large group. After countless twists and turns, the butler finally shows them white door with gold vines intertwining all over the door. He politely knocks and enters after a small voice gives him permission. The butler introduces the large group the best he can, and Heero takes a steadying breath. They walk into a simply decorated office and see a blonde woman sitting behind a cherry wood desk organizing her papers and rising from her seat. Relena walks to them with her serious, but cheerful face, her dark blue suit moving silently.

"Relena," Heero says.

"Heero," she responds, "I'm glad all of you could make it."

"You have got to be joking?" Kit states flatly.

"Dude, seriously?" Ally questions with a bewildered face, "What the hell?"

"And you ladies must be the rest of the entourage that Heero spoke of," Relena says politely, ignoring the flabbergasted looks of the benders, "I'm Relena Dorlin Peacecraft."

"No shit," Hailey mummers under her breath.

"I can see that Heero or the other pilots didn't inform you of who I am before coming here," she states with a small smile.

"Not that we didn't deserve knowing," Ally replies, banishing the bewildered look, "We greatly appreciate your assistance during this…difficult time."

"That's what you call it?" Duo comments, "Didn't know you could use diplomatic words."

"I'm more than happy to help," she says, "Especially for old friends. Gerald will show you to your rooms." She gestures with a pale, graceful hand to the butler still standing by the door.

"If you will," he says with a small nod and walks out the door.

The group of ten walk out, the benders still sending odd, confused looks to the Peacecraft resuming her desk.

"I have to say, Heero," Hana pipes up, "You really pulled this one out of thin air. How do you know someone like her?"

"I was supposed to kill her when I was fifteen."

All of the women falter in step for a second and catch up.

"And that makes you guys buddies?" Ally questions, hands clasped behind her head, "You have fucked up standards, if you think about it."

"Hey, we all have special standards," Duo replies with a grin, "When I first met Heero, I shot him in the leg and rescued him later on the same day."

"Pssht, and I thought we were weird," Hailey says, crossing her arms.

The butler shows the group separate rooms, and he explained the basic area of the guest wing before leaving. The group wanders into a parlor, all looking a bit out of place in such a luxurious area. This is a great way to feel out of place.

"So, when do all of you plan to leave?" Trowa suddenly asks.

"Well, the refueling will take a while," Zumi says, placing a finger on her chin, "seeing as how we don't know the procedures here. It won't take long to hack the system and use someone else's account to refuel."

"I think we'll take advantages of the accommodations here, first," Ally says, "and take those wonderful, little things called showers. Kit, Zumi. You two will be up first. After you're both done, go to the shuttle and take care of the refueling. I don't want that thing left unattended for very long."

"What exactly is on that ship, anyway?" Wufei questions, truly curious.

"Oh, not much," Hana replies, waving her hand to diminish the matter, "Just some stuff from our B.M. friends."

Quatre shakes his head, chuckling at how easily she can just say that. Then again, he guesses that is the normal business transactions for these women. After all, it's hard to exist in the world when they don't have real records out there, floating around.

* * *

Duo is one that doesn't always like to be confused. He's also not proud enough not to ask for an explanation more than once if he doesn't understand something. There has been one thing plaguing his mind, when he has the free time to let his mind wander. Just how would the benders know who the new Avatar was supposed to be? Surely there has to be some way of knowing. Maybe he was told a while ago, and he forgot. But, right now he either doesn't know or doesn't remember. Which brings 02 to his current predicament. He's looking for one of the benders to ask how they would know the Avatar when they saw him/her. He would like to talk to Ally, since she seems to be the most knowledgeable about this, but after ten minutes of searching, he'll settle for any one of them.

Finally, he runs into the Earthbender, who is lounging in a chair, waiting her turn for the shower. The women don't like to be far from one another, so they are using only two bathrooms, which are situated next to each other. She grins as he enters.

"You seems annoyed," she states, "What's up?"

"I've been looking for one of you for the last few minutes. This place is huge," he replies, taking a seat on the bed, "That makes it hard to find anyone."

"I think we should have walky-talkies or something," Hailey replies with a nod, "I'd hate to lose a pair of keys in this place. So, what's up?"

Duo shifts a little on the bed. He feels a bit uncomfortable being in one of the women's bedrooms, but the door is opened and Hailey hasn't thrown a rock at his head, yet.

"Something's been buggin' me for a while, now and I haven't had to the time to ask. Running for your life takes up a lot of time during the day."

She snorts and agrees.

"Well, I was just wondering how a bender would recognize the new Avatar."

A somewhat tense silence passes between the two, and Duo once again questions his wisdom on asking this. He was very hesitant before making his decision to ask.

"That's a good question," she sadly replies, "I'm not sure, myself. I mean, it takes a while for the Avatar to realize that he/she can bend more than just one element. It's a bit easier for the Airbenders to know. If the parents of said Airbender know that their child is the new Avatar, they tattoo the bending tattoos on the child as soon as possible."

"Bending tattoos?"

"Yeah, they're arrows and blue. Trust me, you'd know it if you saw 'em," she assures him, "But even that is going on a stretch. We can only hope that the connection to the Spirit World is still strong enough in the world to awaken the chosen bender. Until then, we're on our own."

"…That sucks," he mutters, looking at his knees.

"We'll have to do what we can."

"I meant for the Avatar," he explains, looking at her with sharp violet eyes, "How can someone deal with that much responsibility when that person doesn't even know about it or about who they're supposed to be? That's horrible."

"That's life."

Both swivel to look at the new voice at the bathroom doorway. Ally stands there with a hard face, holding a towel in one hand to catch her dripping red hair. Instead of saying anything else, she walks out of the room and down the hall, no doubt to her room. Thankfully, she brought clothes to change into with her in the bathroom. Hailey sighs and shakes her head.

"I take it she's not happy with this whole Avatar business?" Duo unnecessary questions.

"She'll never forgive the Spirit World, or the bender population for their ignorance and violence," she mummers, "But I need to take a shower myself, so please leave."

"Sure," he says, rising, "Thanks for the information. It's nice to know more about your heritage."

He leaves, gently closing the door behind him. Halite wonders if she shouldn't have told him about the Airbender's markings. She wasn't breaking anything Ally wanted to be kept silent and she just couldn't turn 02 away without causing more unneeded tension. Duo isn't stupid. With all that's going on, he might just very well find something out he shouldn't. That wouldn't surprise her at all.

"God all mighty, we're in something deep," she sighs out and gathers up some clothes and heads to the bathroom for her shower.

* * *

The group of women land easily on the floating airstrip and begin to file out. Strangely enough, only space travel makes Ally sick. She's actually a pretty good pilot, considering she taught herself. Kit and Hana begin to unload the cargo with Howard's men while Hailey checks the system in the shuttle.

"How you doing, Howard?" Ally asks, grasping his hand for a handshake.

"Hey, could be better, Red," he replies with his raspy voice. Today, he sports a yellow Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts with his usual sandals.

"Yeah, I know the order is heavy," she replies sheepishly, "But at least I'm bring you the parts and paying you with real money."

"You'd better or I won't do any of this for you," he replies, hands resting on his hips, "This the last shipment?"

"Yup, then we'll be outta you're hair for a while," Zumi replies.

"If you say so, Chicana," Howard says, rubbing a hand over his head, "When you wanna take these out?"

"Just as soon as the last bit is installed," Ally replies, "Still stowing our cargo shuttle?"

"Yup, but it'll take all day to get this done."

"That's fine. We can't take them with us considering where we're staying right now," Zumi comments with a shrug, "But we'll still get 'em out of here as soon as we can. We might find some place in a day to store them."

"You'd better. They've been taking up too much room here."

They both just nod to the elder man, each with their own grins. It seems that the benders will finally have a hand up on Marcus. Once the cargo is unloaded and Howard's men begin to install it, the women leave. What's a day's rest? Besides, Ally's been working on something for a while now, and she thinks it's time to bring Heero in to it. The flight back was quiet and in good spirits. It doesn't take long for them to return to the Sanc Kingdom. The women disperse in the large palace-house. It still amazes Ally how someone could live comfortably in such a huge place. The redhead starts out to find 01 after grabbing a certain sheet of paper from her pocket. She finds Heero in the library, reading a book. Unsure what to do, she softly knocks on the doorframe. He looks at her, wondering why she knocked on a library doorframe. It's not his room, or anything.

"Would you mind helping me with a project?" she mummers, feeling suddenly shy. She doesn't enjoy asking for help very often. "It's pretty simple, but I know you can do it better than I can."

"What is it?"

"You know that shuttle that boarded the space station the other day?"

"Yeah?"

"Luckily, I was able to recover a serial number from the craft from a photo the monitor took. The system keeps visual records of all things passing the station," she explains, holding a fold piece of paper, "Considering how weak the computer was on the station, I wasn't able to investigate the number. Now that we're back on something more stable and with constant electricity, we can find them."

"You're hoping for a lead on where Marcus is hiding," he states, closing the book and rising.

She just grins at him. He smirks back and takes the sheet of paper. 01 heads to a computer in the library and sits down, his fingers flying across the keyboard.

"You could have done this by yourself," he comments, still flying through different systems of shuttle owners, looking for this serial number.

"Yeah, but you're better and faster at this," she says with a shrug, "After all, you were trained. I learned by trial and error."

He stops for a second to glance at her and continues. She's good then, for someone with no formal training.

"Hey, don't give me that look," she replies, "You of all people should know that if one is left alone with only one means of getting things done, that person is gonna learn real quick."

The only sound between the two is the click-clicking of Heero's finger on the keyboard. Ally feels pretty useless during this time, just sitting here and waiting. But she is right. Heero is better at this. He's already narrowing some places down and has already slapped away fakes. That is one thing that does make her worried. What if the number is a fake itself? Marcus is well-known for doing thing illegally before his business went down and he decided on genocide as his new hobby. She can only imagine how much illegal things he's doing in this war. No doubt more than the women have.

"Hmmm."

"What?"

"It seems that there are three possibilities," he says, leaning back and clasping his hands behind his head, "A shuttle shop, this upscale business or this junk yard company."

"…That's random as hell. What're the names of the places?"

"The shuttle shop is called Rick's Shuttles. The upscale business place is The Delicatessens Catering Company and the last is Joe's Junkyard."

"Are those all on Earth?"

"Except for the junkyard. The catering company extends business all the way to the colonies, but the headquarter company is on Earth. Seems that they are mostly used for high-class political functions," he replies clicking around to look at the information.

The airy cogs have been grinding in Ally's mind since he said the three possible places. With a smirk, she remembers one thing she heard a day or so ago.

"'A vice will always reside within a vice,'" she mutters to herself, "I know where that bastard is."

He sends her a questioning look and she grins in return. "Marcus isn't one to live without luxuries that I can guarantee you. Past records show that he inherited a catering company from his great grandmother, but never used it for anything, except for his own food supplies. It wasn't until after his business dropped that the company picked up. God, I should have seen that!" She gets up in her excitement and starts to pace. "He has to be there. He changed the name several times, but that would explain why the shuttle had no logo or anything on it. That company comes out with a new logo every friggin' year."

"So, you're positive this is where the enemy is?" he questions, pointing to the computer screen.

"Damn dead positive. There is only one more thing to do before striking out," she replies with a grin and stops long enough to give him an awkward hug, "Thanks. I've got some planning to do, so get the guys and meet up back here in the library."

Next thing he knows, she's gone in a small gust of wind. That was…unexpected. But they have been searching for Marcus for a while now. In a matter of minutes, Ally zooms back in, her face slightly flushes, which shows she's been running with little bending involved. However, she's still a very fast runner. A second after she takes a deep breath, everyone else starts to file in. She moved around the area so quickly that he didn't even need to go anyway. Was she using bending?

"Lord, woman," Zumi huffs, her hair flopping in her face, "What's the rush?"

She waits, looking at every single person with a beaming face.

"Marcus slipped up."

Everyone stops for a second to process just what the excited Airbender said.

"Slipped up?" Kit exclaims, "How? When?"

"The scouting shuttle Marcus sent after us had a serial number on it," she explains, jutting her hip out, "and through the Heero's god-like skills on a computer, we have an incredibly solid lead as to where he is hiding out. The catering company his great grandmother gave him."

"'A vice will always reside within a vice,'" Hailey whispers with wide eyes, "So for once, the dead connections come in handy."

Each woman adorns a viscous grin, glancing between themselves.

"What's your order?" Kit asks in a dark voice.

"Infiltration," Ally replies, "We need to make absolutely sure and we need to scout the place out."

"Then let's get started," Duo says, with a grin.


	11. Chapter 11

Sat. back and I am long overdue. I looked at the last updating date, and saw that I haven't updated since last spring. Holy crap, that's a long time. No doubt I lost the few readers I had, but I will endure! To make up for the long wait, this is a long chapter. Here's the next chapter and it seems that things are getting a little tense. I own nothing familiar.

* * *

Chapter Eleven: Look Who's Coming to Dinner

The day has gone by in a flurry of preparation and hacking jobs. All of them are in an eager mood, ready to end this messed up version of hide-and-seek with the enemy. Though the team of ten arrived early that morning at the Sanc kingdom, most of the day has already passed away. Duo is the only one with some knowledge to how much time has passed due to his growling stomach. He is the only one that stopped long enough to get something small to eat. Now, however, his stomach is voicing displeasure at the lack of food. Almost all of the information has been collected. The task that is taking up the most time is making fake I.D. tags. All the other information has been cleanly gathered already. After a few minutes of rumbling stomachs, a butler comes in to announce that dinner will be served in five minutes and that he is there to escort them to the dining room.

The women all exchange worried looks. Do they have to dine with Relena? None of the women know what to do at any kind of formal dining event. All of them close or lock down the computers and hide the paperwork away for the moment. Perhaps it won't be as bad as they think. Then again, maybe not.

"Man, is it really dinner time already?" Hailey asks, cracking her neck, "Time flies when you're planning the demise of a hated enemy."

"Yeah and with the mention of food," Kit replies, rubbing her stomach, "My gut is wide awake and angry with me."

Instead of leading the ten people into a fancy dining room, they are led to a kitchen with a dining table in it. Everything is very simple, if very clean looking. Ally mentally breathes a sigh of relief. The table is already set with food and plates and is large enough to fit about twelve people. Ally catches Quatre's eyes and gives a questioning look. The Arab merely shrugs back, not really sure what to say. An extra seat would make sense, but maybe this table is just meant to seat tweleve. Naturally, the size of the table should say a lot of the size of the kitchen, considering the ten have plenty of room to move around in. The butler that led them here says for them to enjoy the meal and that Relena would join them shortly. 01 winces slightly at that.

"Well," Hana says shakily and clapping her hands once, "Nothing left to do, but sit and eat."

All of them take their seat, mixing up company without much thought. It seems that the two different groups have gotten used to each other that they don't separate for small things like taking a meal. Zumi, to annoy him a little, takes her seat by Wufei. He sends her a glaring glance before scooping some rice and chicken on his plate.

"So…before things get awkward," the Firebender asks, snagging a roll, "Wanna tell us why you're so antsy around the dear lady of the house, Heero?"

Said man stops mid motion and continues as though he never heard her.

"Yeah, we'd have to be blind not to see how jittery you are," Kit replies, chomping down on some greens, "What's up?"

The other pilots glance at Heero, who pointedly ignores them, neatly eating his dinner.

"Er, let's just leave it at a rough history," Duo pipes in before sopping up some gravy with a roll.

"After the whole killing-her-at-fifteen thing?" Zumi presses, not really expecting an answer.

No answer. She just shrugs, letting the subject go. Zumi is nosy, but she isn't nosy enough to not know when to stop.

"Think we can get in the company by tomorrow?" Quatre asks Kit. The others begin conversations about other things now that tension is out of the air.

"Dunno," the Waterbender replies thoughtfully, "It'd be awesome if we could, but it depends on how much planning is done and how much sleep we get. My guess is about two days from now, maybe less."

The dinner continues nicely with relaxed and cheery, if not bubbly conversation. Even Zumi and Wufei are in an agreeable conversation about English as the business language of the world and where it can fail. Things almost die out the moment the Peacecraft lady walk in. She smiles at everyone at the table and takes an empty seat next to Ally, who becomes incredibly uncomfortable.

"Forgive me for my lateness," she explains, "Paperwork was hectic."

"Ruling a kingdom, I would think it would be," Ally says, trying to be polite.

The dinner continues with a lulled conversation, Ally completely clamming up next to Relena. The awkward tension in the room is enough to make most of the people gag on the rich chicken. Duo, sitting across from the Airbender, tries to engage her in a silly conversation to help. Ally gratefully jumps into it, chuckling once or twice at some of the American's bad jokes.

"May I ask how all of you met these ladies?" Relena asks Quatre, who is on her left.

The Arab shakily smiles and takes a sip of water before answering. "Well, it's actually for a quiet mission."

Zumi and Hailey snort into their plates and grin. Quiet? Yeah, right. Even Trowa smirks for a second at that. Relena passes a knowing look to the two women laughing into their meal.

"Quatre, if you five are involved in anything, it's usually never very quiet," she counters, chucking, "And it seems that your new friends agree with me."

"It's been kinda quiet for the last couple of months," Zumi throws in, unable to resist, "But what's always a kick is Wufei dealing with five women on a daily bases."

Even Relena knows about Wufei's short tolerance with women in everything, and if these women are working closely with the Chinese pilot on a mission, he must be ticked off twenty-four-seven. She smirks a little at that. The blonde knows that Wufei needs a bit of a reality check when it comes to sexism.

"I have no doubt the experience of working with Wufei has been entertaining in the least."

"Entertaining, annoying, hilarious when we have time to pull some pranks.…" the Firebender trails off with a grin.

"Why is it that this conversation is at my expense?" he growls, stabbing a little piece of chicken.

"You make it easy," Heero mutters with a flicker of a smirk.

"And we're being nice right now, you know that," Kit says in a matter of fact tone.

Thankfully, the dinner hammers out to be less tense and nothing about war and politics comes up to the table. Trowa hopes that it's because Relena has to deal with politics as a job. It's not that he dislikes Relena or anything; he just can't stand the way she doesn't stay out of some business. It's a wonder that Heero could put up with her after the Mariemaia incident. At the time, it seemed right for the two to go out after all that happened between them in those two years. To put in Wufei's terms, it was the honorable thing to do. Trowa has no doubt that is the reason why Heero had relations with Relena. Zechs wasn't very happy about it. Though, he is sure Zechs is mostly unhappy about a lot of things.

The women fall into an easy conversation, even engaging Ally to some extent. The Airbender can't ignore the woman talking to her directly who happens to be next to the redhead. Duo is beginning to understand women conversation a little more. The benders and Relena are very friendly in their tone and subject, laughing like school friends, but 02 can notice that the topics never go too far into detail and are very reserved. There are only certain things the women talk about, such as food, places, clothes and some small tidbits of gossip. While the benders and Relena are acting friendly to each other, he can quietly see them sizing each other up and holding each other at table's length. It seems that arm's length is too short. The American shakes his head to try and appease the headache forming in his skull. Why are women so complicated with this? It's worse than watching a political debate. That type of conversation is easier to decipher.

"Quat, man, are you keeping up with what they're saying?" he murmurs to the blonde man.

"Sadly, yes," he replies with a weak smile, "I may not have spent a lot of time with all of my sisters, but I've been in many of their conversations. Things aren't going too badly, they just really don't trust one another."

"Kinda gathered that," Duo mutters, rubbing his forehead.

"Kit really doesn't like Relena, though."

"What? How can you tell?"

"Look at her," he says, rolling his eyes slightly to the said woman.

Kit sits with her usual smile while cutting into more chicken and looking a little more at Ally than at Relena.

"She looks normal."

"Kit hasn't spoken much to Relena," Quatre clarifies, "and when she does answer, she is short and to the point with her answers. She gives off this subtle vibe that she doesn't want to be around Relena. I'm not entirely sure why, but I can see that she doesn't want to be around Relena."

"You call that subtle?" he questions flatly, "I call that non-existent."

"Watch her and you'll see."

02 just shrugs and continues eating. Maybe most men are not supposed to understand the how and why of women conversations. He will do as Quatre says and keep an eye on Kit for a while, just to satisfy some growing curiosity. Soon, footsteps can be heard outside of the kitchen over the soft chatter. No one really pays any mind to it, continuing the dinner.

"Relena, I didn't know we had guests."

Everyone looks up to the doorway to see Zechs with his formal Preventer jacket unbuttoned and a full glare at Heero. Instead of reacting, Heero just keeps his stare.

"You've gotta be shittin' me!" Kit nearly yells, a smile tearing up her face as she stands up from her chair, "Zechs? What the―how are―what?"

"You," he says with a surprised look, "What are you doing here?"

She comes around the table with a fully formed grin and plants her hands on her hips.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she counters, "Aren't you, I dunno, supposed to be dead?"

The elder Peacecraft gives a somewhat sly grin and folds his arms. "Hades sent me back."

"That's not surprising," she snorts, "You were a pain in the ass alive. I'd hate to meet you dead."

Without much more delay, she yanks him into a quick hug, which he briefly returns to everyone's surprise, and smacks him playfully on the arm.

"That's for making me think you were dead, ya jerk," she explains.

"Considering I didn't know your name, and still don't," Zechs defends with a straight face, "It was impossible to inform you that I didn't die."

"Well, one: my name is Kit. Two: even with that info, you wouldn't find me."

"Whoa, wait!" Duo cuts in, finally recovering from a heart attack, "What kind of freaky dimension did we just fall into? Kit, explain how you know him and why you didn't instantaneously combust from hugging him."

"Erm…well," she laughs nervously, fiddling with a long strand of hair.

"I would also like an explanation as to why you are here," Zechs adds, glaring at Heero, "Though I do not mind your company, Kit."

"They are here because they require some assistance, brother," Relena answers, saving some face for the pilots and benders, "They are here under my authority."

"I knew him before he was under that creeper's command," Kit explains, jutting a thumb to the man next to her, "What was his name? I know he had a weird obsession with roses or something."

"You knew him before he fell in with Trieze Khushrenada?" Relena asks. She doesn't get to hear much about her brother's past, so she is intrigued.

"Oh, that's the sunglasses-soon-to-go-to-helmet guy?" Hailey asks, snapping her fingers.

"Yup," she nods happily.

Zechs shoots her an annoyed look and the Waterbender throws her hands up in justification.

"You said not to tell anyone who you were. Doesn't that include names? I had to tell them something when I went missing," she snaps, leaning towards him defiantly, "Oh, and Duo? We met in the middle of a battle field and helped each other out for about two weeks. We kinda…became friends after that, or during that. I'm still not really sure."

"Huh," Duo says in astonishment, falling back in his chair, "I didn't think that was humanly possible."

"Well, you know I'm a very special human," Kit slyly responds, to which 02 grins and laughs.

The two take their seats, Heero and Zechs rarely breaking eye contact. The other women introduce themselves and Zechs acts like the gentleman he can be. Kit does a wonderful job breaking up the death-by-glare contest by trying to catch up with Zechs. Heero didn't want to come here because of Relena, but this just got worse. This is the one factor Heero forgot, and if he remembered, they wouldn't be anywhere near here. Yes, he forgot that Zechs lives here too. Usually, he doesn't stay here and works random missions at the Preventers, so 01 didn't put much thought to it. Worst mistake, ever. At this moment, he is considering two things. The first is leaving the table to finish preparations. The second, and the reason for this one eludes him, is to get up and throttle Zechs. This is a normal reaction, but he hasn't felt this urge so strongly since the war. The only real reason he wanted to beat the living Lord out of Zechs was because he was an arrogant douche…he still is, but Heero got over that for the most part.

His dark blue eyes drop down to his nearly empty plate and he tries to figure out where this want for violence came from. Many things run through his mind, but none seem to fit. In a small test, Heero looks up to Zechs and Kit happily chatting and laughing…well, Kit is laughing, but she can get Zechs to smile. That is one hell of an accomplishment by itself. His temper flares and he nearly clenches his hands. Quatre has been watching the Japanese man since Zechs sat down. Needless to say that he is surprised at his friend's reactions, but he smiles and shakes his head. Quatre knows exactly what Heero is feeling: a protective, violent surge of jealousy. This is a good thing and a bad thing, all in one. And what a horrible time for him to feel this way. Being with Relena is bad enough, but now Zechs is just fueling this decimating experience.

"I take it, then that you are here on unofficial Preventer business?" Zechs asks Kit.

"Sorta," she shakily replies, "We're not part of the Preventers, as much as I know Une wants us to be. She was 'kind' enough to let these five out and about with us."

"Yes, I asked her why there was a quiet resignation," he says with a nod, "All she told me was that if any of these five asked to come here, to let them, if circumstances allowed. Relena already took care of that. I didn't expect to find you with them."

"Life's like that, huh?" she replies, "But I think you will like my friends."

"We still are here, sprite," Ally murmurs into her glass of water.

"I hadn't noticed," Kit replies with a playful grin.

"That goes to show that you've had one too many blows to the head," Hailey comments, earning a glare from the Waterbender , "No doubt those hits are all from the walls you walked into."

"Well, any friend of Kit's is a friend of ours," Hana interjects with a soft smile, "We don't have the opportunity to make many friends."

"How long will you be staying with us?" Zechs asks, taking a sip of his own drink.

"Not long, we promise," Zumi answers with a small smirk, "Another day or so."

"You're planning something."

The Firebender smiles, unable to hold in her glee.

"Zumi has never been known for much subtly," Ally comment airily, almost to herself.

"How are things at Preventers?" Duo asks, "We don't really keep contact."

"Things are normal, but there is some new activity that is causing some issues," he replies with no real detail.

"Happen to do with anything in the mobile suit department?" the Airbender asks knowingly.

"Perhaps. That seems to be the worry of citizens at the moment," Zech discreetly avoids question.

"I'll take that as a yes," she counters, pushing her plate away, "Especially since I've witnessed some illegal suit usage."

Some tense silence dips to the table like a new spice until Zechs snorts and smirks.

"I can see why Une would want you to work for her. You know things people aren't supposed to and get in the middle of things."

"Just saying," the Earthbender says with a raised finger, "They come to us most of the time."

"I have to agree with Hailey," Quatre supports, leaning on the table, "A lot of dangerous things are attracted to these women."

There are too many puns in that statement.

Soon dinner ends with easy conversation and everyone leaves the table. Heero, Duo and Ally stay in the library a little longer, just to put more things together. Eventually, Duo calls it a night and heads off to his room. The two work in easy silence, but a question has been nagging the redhead for a while now. She can't resist.

"So…why do you wanna kill that Zechs guy for?" she starts, looking at the newly acquired blueprints with a red pen, "You were like that all during dinner."

"We fought each other during the war," he answers with no enthusiasm. He's tired and ready to sleep in a real bed.

"Hmm, seems a bit more than that, but I'll leave it be."

Silence lingers on, and Ally doesn't make another initiative for conversation.

"How does Kit know him?"

A surprised glance meets Heero's back as he continues to print out useful information about the company.

"When the war was still going and we were young teens, we got separated by a frontline battle. We were traveling to a new area at the time," she explains, circling some exits and stairs, "I don't know what happened between them, other than they saved each other's lives and that he knows she's a bender."

"He does?" Heero asks, stopping to look at her.

"Apparently, he was going to die without some serious help," Ally replies with a shrug, "She just can't let a person die when she can save that person. It's her nature. He's kept it quiet over the years, and she didn't tell him anything other than her being a bender. No doubt he thinks the girls and I are also benders, but he most likely won't say anything. We were separated for two weeks, but she said there wasn't much to tell."

"Didn't you say no one else knows about this whole bending thing?"

"Guy is supposed to be dead, remember? When I told you that, it was true. Then he went all Jesus on us," she explains, waving her hand and getting up, "I'm calling it a night. There is no way I'm passing up a bed. If wanna know more about this, you'll have to talk to the water sprite yourself. I don't know anything about it and don't really care to at the moment."

The woman leaves and trudges off to her assigned room. For once a bed. A real one. Ally can't help but wonder what Heero is thinking when he asked her those questions. She stops a moment at her room door when the conclusion smacks her. Unable to stop, a full, devious grin breaks over her face. It's true that she hasn't had much social contact outside of the other benders and that this is just an assumption, but it fits perfectly. Heero totally likes Kit. She enters her room and leans on the door when she shuts it tight.

It would explain dinner. It would also explain that, while he is trying to learn more about the female benders, he does so by talking to Kit and he usually talks to her alone. Zumi is just as friendly and Hana will talk once she gets over her nerves. Ally needs to watch these two a little more, now. She has no doubt that Kit doesn't even notice how angry Heero is right now. The water sprite is very good a blocking out some things. This leads her to another train of thought. She chews her lips while removing her shoes and looking for some sleep clothes she packed. Zechs isn't known to be the nicest guy in the world. Now that she knows who her friend was with during those two weeks, it amazes her that someone like Zechs can befriend her…perhaps it would be the other way around. Ally paid attention to the news enough to know a little about Zechs and he couldn't evade some personal interviews. Emotions and niceties are not in that soldier's arsenal.

The main question popping up in her mind now is what is Zechs to Kit? Everyone nearly died when she gave him a brief, but friendly hug. No wonder Heero wants to kill Zechs. As far as her knowledge, Kit never hugged Heero or even patted him on the shoulder. Then there was the incident of the twenty-question game a few months ago. The black-haired woman told her about that a day or so after it happened, and Kit did her best to politely avoid Heero, which she did. Tucking herself in the bed, Ally is not at all surprised by Heero's reaction to Zechs now. That doesn't mean it's not unexpected.

* * *

"It feels like years since we've met."

"Kit, it has been years."

"You get what I mean. The time just seems so much longer than it actually is. It's been what? Six years or so?"

"I believe you're right."

The two are sitting back in the kitchen, Zechs drinking some coffee and Kit some hot chocolate. They decided that it would be better to catch up away from prying ears, considering the sensitive information they each know. Each of them has basically caught one another up on the last few years of their lives. Zechs can remember now why he finds a great deal of compatibility with this woman. Her cheerfulness and rueful playing makes him smile and there are few people, besides Noin, who can achieve that.

"So," she says in a drawing tone, "Do you have any love interests? Someone like you can't stay single for long. You'd gather a whole bushel of stalkers."

He raises an eyebrow at her beaming face and can't resist smirking a little.

"There may be someone…why so interested?" he questions calmly, taking a sip of his drink.

"I wanna prove to the world that you are a nice guy, if just a little awkward at expressing stuff," she replies easily, "Plus, I want to see what kind of woman it takes to stand you. I like you and all, but I don't think we could stand each other that long in that way."

"That sounds like an insult."

"Really? Sounds like the truth to me."

"I have been involved with Noin…."

"Define involved. To you, that could be work related."

"We do work together, but we have actually started a relationship."

"Aww," the Waterbender coos before she can control it, "Two schoolmates' love. That's so cliché and adorable. Can she kick your ass?"

"What kind of question is that?" he asks, taking back slightly. Zechs did tell her about Noin and how they met when they were trapped beneath some rubble on a battlefield.

"One that will prove a point I've been trying to make for years," she explains, stirring her sweet drink with a spoon, "If someone meets someone else and that person can kick the first person's ass in something, the relationship will have a better chance of working. I've seen it a bit, but I need a piece of real data."

"I'm an experiment?" he lightly asks with a mocking glare.

"An opportunity," she corrects, with a grin, "Until about two hours ago, I thought you were dead."

The blonde man leans back in thought, truly thinking about this.

"We haven't had much time to spar or compete outside of our classroom days, but she is near equal, if not equal with everything I can do."

Kit nods, twisting a long piece of hair away from her face. "I'd like to meet her. She works with you, you said?"

"Yes."

"Well, who knows? I met you again and your dead; maybe I'll meet her too."

"What about you?" he asks, deciding it is time to turn the conversation away from him.

"What about me?"

"Have you found anyone of interest?"

"You kiddin' me?" she asks with a flat voice, "This is the most actual, social stimulation I've had in the last ten years. Not that the two weeks with you wasn't nice, I just wish we weren't trying to save our hides from suffocation and unfriendly fire from giant hostile robots."

He chuckles and takes another sip of the dark drink. This is the most his talked all week. Zechs had been away doing some mission details on mobile suits and destroying the ones he could find. The Black Market guys that owned them weren't very happy when their merchandise exploded in the middle of the night and they didn't appreciate being arrested in their p.j.s.

"I take it you and Heero had a bad history during the war?"

He looks at her knowing face and snorts a little.

"Just because I live underground, literally at times, doesn't mean that I didn't keep up with the news during the war," she says, cracking her hands, "I know you two got in a lot of scraps together. What happened to that giant, white suit you had?"

"Tallgeese? It's destroyed."

Kit gives him a dreary look. She may not have talked to Zechs long for those two weeks, but she knows he loves the mobile suit machines. Tallgeese was the granddaddy of the other Gundams and that suit was damaged and outdated before he piloted it the first time. No way in hell Zechs got rid of it. Kit can do her homework, but he doesn't need to know what she knows. However, the Waterbender drops the subject and just shakes her raven head.

"Can…you still do the whole water…thing?"

"Most intelligent thing I have ever heard from you," she answers, while lifting her hand. She moves it in a simple motion and stirs the coffee in his cup. "That answer your question?"

"That it does," he says with raised eyebrows, looking at his cup, "This is pretty incredible. Do the other pilots know?"

"They'd kinda have to," she says, shifting uncomfortably in her chair.

"May I offer assistance?"

She shoots up to look at his blank face and knows he is serious. He wouldn't ask something like that without being serious.

"With what?"

"With what you're doing at the moment."

"You're talking to the wrong person."

"Then with whom should I speak with?"

She shrugs and mutters in her cup that she will have to speak with the right person. "I don't think you should help, though."

"Whenever those five boys are in something, they usually can't handle it," he says, defending his offer, "I know that you can take care of yourself. I've seen firsthand experience and I have no doubt that your friends are more than able, but it is my duty to investigate any more mobile suit usage. Your friend with the red hair and long sleeved shirt told me at dinner. I will follow you and I will not lose you."

She looks at his still and determined face. God knows this man is right. Now that he's seen her and has learned some of her everyday patterns, he could very well track her. He also knows who and what to look for. This also could violate the contract with Une, but if it's already in his job description at the moment, she can go to hell. Having another mobile suit pilot would be great, and that pilot being Zechs is even better. However, she really doesn't want to drag anymore people into this than needed. This is her war and her people's war, not his.

"Well, I have no doubt that you will stalk us like a starve puppy looking at a hunk of pig bone," she mutters, a hand rubbing over her face, "But I really will have to ask if you can work with us. I wouldn't mind the extra help, but this goes way deeper than you know. This is gonna sound cheesy, but I don't want to put you in any unnecessary danger."

He gives her a smooth look and she can see his annoyance in it. He's already been through a lot and Zechs happens to live in danger.

"There is one thing I have to ask," she continues as a sigh escapes her, "Did you really get rid of Tallgeese? It doesn't seem like you would."

For the first time since meeting him, Zechs gives her a full, unrestrained smile. Kit almost falls over in her seat at the sight and can feel her own face heating up a little. He's doing that on purpose, the bastard.

"Now why would you ask that?"

"Why won't you answer?" she immediately replies with her own sweet smile.

"You get this 'person' to agree to let me work with you and your comrades," he compromises, taking her empty cup and his to the sink, "and I will tell you if my suit exists or not."

"Now, now, Zechs," she says following him and placing a hand on his shoulder, "We both know you sure as hell would never get rid of that one of a kind piece of machinery. G'night."

She leaves him in the kitchen, hearing him restrain a laugh as her own grin licks her face. This is the most she's smiled and laughed in a while. Despite what people believe, Zechs is actually cool to hang around, so long as the conversation isn't too lengthy for him. However, the smile drops instantly at the thought of his demand. Kit isn't naïve enough to think it was an offer. It was a demand disguised as an option. Ally is most likely asleep, but now is the only time to relay this information quickly and quietly. Hana passes Kit in the hallway, but Kit stops her.

"Hey, do you know if Ally went to bed?" she asks.

"I think she went to work in the library," Hana replies, tugging on a blonde lock of hair; "I know she said she would be after dinner. She might still be there."

"Cool, thanks Hana," she says with a quick hug, "'Night."

"Good night," Hana replies and ducks into her room, ready to collapse on the bed.

Kit shakes her head and heads towards the library. She gets there with little trouble and immediately starts to look for Ally. She only sees Heero working over a computer, one hand a flurry over the keyboard and the other arm lying over the back of the chair. How can he do that with one hand? Perhaps it's nearly the same way she can play some piano pieces with one hand. She watches him work for a moment, noting some stress in his back that isn't from the computer. He really doesn't like being here. She takes a seat next to him.

"Hey," she murmurs a little hoarsely. There's too much sugar on her throat.

He glances over at her, only stopping for a second before resuming.

"You should probably get some sleep," she continues, relentless, "Who knows when we can get another bed."

He just "hn"s at her and continues. She huffs a little and flips some hair behind her shoulder. "I know you're uncomfortable here, but right now is the best time to get all the rest you can."

Instead of any type of reply, he ignores her as though she isn't there. Usually, Heero would give Kit some form of response, either a nod or something. Now, he isn't doing anything and it's ticking her off. She takes a moment to calm herself before she says something stupid, and remembers that he was mad at dinner. Is he still angry?

"What's wrong?" she demands with pursed lips, "Ever since dinner, you've been ticked off."

He still doesn't grace her ears or eyes with an answer. One usual trick that works to annoy someone enough to get an answer is to stare and get a little close. It works on Ally and Hailey, and they're the most patient out of the five women. So, Kit crosses her arms and leans forward, glaring at him from the level of his moving arm and waits. Usually, Heero is uncanny at ignoring people or making them leave with his sheer coldness, but he knows that she won't move. Before he can control himself, Heero feels an irritated answer fizz from his mouth.

"Why are you friends with him?"

She looks back with astonishment, looking up as it were, at not only the question, but the anger behind it.

"Why shouldn't I be?" she questions back with no conviction, "Don't you two work together? I thought you two did before the Preventers were created."

"That's not the point," he growls back, surprised at his own animation.

She leans up and away from him with pure curiosity. This is the first time Heero has shown a lot of emotion to her, and she won't let this leave. Kit honestly wants to know why Heero is upset and that want grows with his outburst.

"Tell me what the point is," she says quietly, turning her head a little.

"He isn't as great as you might think," he says, saving and clearing what he did on the computer. It's high time for him to leave. He gets up to leave, but her soft and strong hand snaps up his wrist and she yanks him back to his chair. Out of reflex, he reaches for a gun on his hip, but stops at her concern face.

"Everyone has faults, Heero," she says in a soft voice, making him less angry, "That guy also saved my life. If we weren't buried together under a busted mobile doll, we would have died. He had enough kindness to fix my wounds first. Surely he isn't so horrible?"

He glares at her, though it is a weak glare.

"Tell me why, Heero," the Waterbender continues, "Tell me why I shouldn't be around Zechs, who is one of my few friends outside from my girls? He even knows I'm a bender and hasn't told anyone. Why?"

"I…" he starts, but his voice dies off.

Instead of pressuring him for an answer, Kit watches the way he stills himself and his face becomes blank with hints of confusion and irritation. He can't find the words he wants to say because he doesn't fully understand what he's feeling. A light switch flicks in Kit's mind and she leans a little foreword to say what she thinks.

"Are you…mad that I know him? Are you worried that…erm, that, uh I won't be friends with you anymore, or something?" she stammers out difficultly.

01 looks at her with only confusion, but that sounds like it might be right. He certainly won't accept any other answer, and slowly nods. Kit sighs heavily, and rolls her eyes with a small smile.

"Geez, that's it?" she says, ruffling his head while he's still confused, "You've got nothing to worry about."

He looks at her and catches the wrist still on top of his head. She grins and laughs a little.

"Heero, I trust you with my life and you're the first person that isn't one of the girls I've talked to about my parents, despite the small about of information I actually gave you," she says with a happy expression, "I also trust Zechs with my life because he saved my sorry ass once before and he hasn't told anyone what I can do. You have nothing to worry about and he won't replace you."

It's taking all her willpower to not blush and she hides what may be showing in a smile. Heero looks at her with unshielded eyes, almost staring her down. All she can do is keep her same smiling face, hoping she isn't turning into a tomato. His grip on her wrist is neither soft nor hard, it's just there.

"I'm not going anywhere," she murmurs, patting his head with her trapped wrist.

"Are you sure?"

"Nope, but I will try my damndest," Kit replies with another grin.

A strange light comes over Heero and he holds her just a second longer before letting the bewildered Waterbender free. She blinks up at him a couple of times and he pulls her up from her chair.

"Good night," he says flatly and is gone the next second.

Katharina stands there for a second and shakes her head.

"What the fuck is up with today?"

She leaves the library in search of her Airbender friend and finally comes to her door. Kit raises a hand to knock, but hesitates. It's already past eleven and she didn't expect to have that…conversation, for lack of a better term, with 01. Shaking her head, she knocks anyway. No rest for those trying to save the world. A half asleep "come in" sounds through the door and Kit enters quickly and shuts the door tight.

"Hey, Ally," she whispers, "I'm sorry for buggin' you."

"S'kay," she grumbles, rolling on her side to look at her. After Kit's eyes adjust, she walks over and sits on Ally's bed.

"I have a quick question," Kit immediately explains, "Well; it's more of a warning/request."

"That's weird," she sighs out and snuggles deeper in the blankets.

"It's been a weird night," she agrees with her older friend, "Zechs says he wants to help with our cause. He says he will get involved either way because it's his job, at the moment, to follow any leads on mobile suits, investigate, destroy and arrest."

Ally cracks open one blue eye and says incredibly clear, "You kiddin' me?"

"Nope. I don't really want him involved, but if he's gonna be, I'd rather him on our side than none at all."

Ally growls roughly in her pillow with annoyance.

"If it makes you feel any better, I tried to dissuade him against this, but he wouldn't budge. He is also a pilot, enough to rival the five guys, and I have little to no doubt that he still has his mobile suit."

"The Tallgeese?" she asks, sitting up a little. That would be another ally against an Epion that might be resurrected.

"Figured that would catch your attention," Kit says, lying down next to her, "He won't be able to travel with us, but I have no doubt that if you give some key information, he could do some legwork and would be happy to. Hell, we might even be able to have another suit on Epion, should it come to that."

"You make it sound like he's already working with us," she snaps flatly, knowing it's useless, "We still need to have a vote on this, but I have no doubt that you will win this."

"Not me," Kit corrects, blowing some bangs from her face, "Zechs. I don't want him involved, but that bastard has a stubborn streak like you wouldn't believe."

"I can, if he's friends with you," she mutters, "We'll talk about it with the others before we pick up working again."

"Sure, sure," Kit says, getting up, "'Night, airhead."

* * *

"We still telling them today, right?" Zumi asks, glancing between her friends.

"Not much choice," Hana says, eating a small piece of egg, "We've held out for as long as we could and Howard said the gifts would be done today."

"We have held this out for too long," Hailey says, shoveling more eggs on to Ally's plate, despite the redhead's displeasure.

"Well, before we get this lovely morning underway," Kit says, clapping her hands, "I believe we have one piece of business to discuss with them before we tell them what their gifts are."

"Which is?" Zumi asks, raising an eyebrow and waiting while cuddling a cup of coffee.

"Accepting more help for our 'save-the-world' cause," she replies jokingly.

"We sound like an intrusive religious group," Ally mutters, sucking down some coffee herself, "Like those weird people with the whole May twenty-first thing in 2011. All we need are matching t-shirts."

"Well, our mission gear is matching in its own way," Hana offers with a grin.

Soon, the other half of the group gathers and Ally waits until most of them are sufficiently caffeinated before dropping this bomb on them. Well, two bombs.

"Alright guys," she says, standing up to lean against a counter, "We've got a little bit of business to attend to before we make final preps for Marcus."

"Which is?" Trowa asks, the most awake of the five men.

"Erm, there is no real way to say this gently," she stammers a bit, "So, I'm just gonna say it. Zechs wants to help us out."

"Say what?" Duo asks groggily, "Am I havin' another weird dream?"

"I could inflict some kinda pain on you," Hailey offers, "Wanna find out?"

"Nope, I'm good," he quickly says, snapping awake, "Are you serious? Why?"

"He said that his current job is to track down any suits and destroy them," the Airbender responds, "So, he's gonna track us no matter what. I just think it would be better to give this sombitch a heads up before he runs head first and blindfolded into an underground war."

"He wouldn't travel with us?" Wufei asks, somewhat concerned. Ten is already a large group to maneuver quietly. Eleven just makes it worse.

"No, but we would give him some info to investigate," Ally replies, crossing her arms, "I want a Plan B if that bastard's not stuffing his face full of fancy foods…look at that alliteration. Anyway, no, he wouldn't be coming with us, but he would have to know everything we do. I don't want anyone to die because of ignorance. It's a crime."

"Geez," Duo huffs, "That is something no one should here in the morning."

"What about his suit?" Quatre asks, leaning on the kitchen table.

"I have little doubt that he got rid of Tallgeese," Kit answers with a grin, "He loves that thing way too much, and it's the beginning of the Gundams. Who could rid of that?"

"One more thing against Epion," Hailey comments, "Should that thing be operational."

"How do you know about Tallgeese?" Quatre can't help but ask. The women just grin.

"We did keep up with the news, dude," Zumi mutters, cracking her back some.

Each pilot feels some kind of tension. For some, it was easy to get rid of their suits; for others, it was very difficult.

"I'd want my Gundam too, if we had to fight that thing," 02 mutters, annoyed with the outcome. He doesn't have anything against Zechs, he just wants to stop all the stupid wars.

"So, what is the vote?" Hana says, quickly changing the subject with a shaky smile, "That guy is gonna follow us no matter what, but do we accept his help? All in favor, raise their hands."

Hana is the first to, seeing that he would be useful to end this stupid genocide before it really starts. Hailey is next, throwing Kit a shrug of indifference. After a moment, Trowa puts in his vote and is counted. Zechs seems like a valuable member, and Trowa knows that they need any help. To Kit's surprise, Heero adds his hand in the vote. Despite all the strange things happening to the man at the moment, the pragmatic side of him wins out in this vote. Wufei doesn't vote out of principle. Zechs worked for Khushrenada and, by default, Wufei will refuse to acknowledge the male Peacecraft. Ally and Kit's hands rise also, despite themselves. Zumi carelessly shrugs and adds her vote. Duo doesn't even bother to vote, seeing as it's seven to ten.

"Alright, then," Quatre says, also not bothering to vote either after Heero raised his hand, "I guess Zechs is now working with us."

"We should bring him up to speed," Zumi offers, glancing between a few people, "He kinda has a lot to catch up on."

"I'll go get him," Hana says, earning a bizarre look from Kit. The Waterbender replies with a shrug and says, "He found me this morning after Ally woke up me. He wanted me to get him from the library when we came to a decision."

"That's little random, but okay," Quatre says.

Hana leaves the kitchen with the sounds of Kit whining about Zechs winning and Ally grumbling at her mistake about talking about mobile suits. The last thing she hears is Wufei telling her that she made a mistake and now is the time to reap from it. The Waterbender shakes her head while heading towards the library. This whole "saving the world" thing is becoming interesting, to say the least. Hana thought that working with people from the outside world would be risky enough. She never thought that they would get the Gundam pilot heroes of the colonies and of Earth. Now, as she walks down the halls of the Peacecraft palace to get yet another pilot who is the elder Peacecraft to fight for their cause, she has to pause and wonder just where life will lead them with this strange and dangerous group of people.

Hana enters the library and finds Zechs sitting comfortably in a chair, reading some impossibly small book. Despite herself, Hana can't help but notice…well, everything about him. The Waterbender admits that Zechs has that combination of devastatingly gorgeous while also a vibe of incredible danger and intimidation around him. Shaking these thoughts away, the blonde woman clears her throat and smiles as he looks up.

"We've come to a decision," she informs him as he rises from the chair, "But, according to Kit, you already knew our choice before we made it this morning."

Instead of answering, he nods and follows her to the kitchen. Another silent person, she thinks. The two come into see Hailey, Duo and, surprisingly, Quatre having a bagel fight. The three toss small crumbs over the table, trying to hit each other in the face or, if they had good enough aim, down a shirt.

"And we're supposed to save the world," Hana all, but moans in her hand, her face a little red with embarrassment, "Wonderful."

"Save the world?" Zechs asks, looking down at her.

"We have a lot to catch you up on," she replies, patting her arm and dodging a piece of bread, "Hey you three, preschool doesn't start for another hour."

"I could say something very immature," the Earthbender says, holding a hunk of bagel, "But I won't." The rest of the bagel is plopped in her mouth.

Everyone settles down and Ally walks right up to Zechs before he can even think to move. She leans up on her feet and glares at him.

"You are one hardheaded bastard," she says, "And you better know now that there is no turning back when we tell you all of this, got it?"

Zechs blinks at her sudden aggression, but makes no facial movements. Finally, he says "So, you're the one in charge."

"You could say that," she snorts, "Take a seat, this is gonna be a long morning."


	12. Chapter 12

Sat. back with massive updates. I'm taking full advantage of the time and inspiration I have at the moment. I've already got the other chapter halfway done! Also, some lyrics had to be modified slightly, but I didn't change the meaning or the words. Zechs is in on this now? What are the "surprises" the benders made? If you don't know what it is by now, you'll find out below. I own nothing familiar.

Chapter Twelve: What have you done?

"Just to be clear, all of you are trying to save the world and are doing so secretly?"

"Yup."

"Basically."

"When you put it that way, it just sounds weird."

Zechs gives Zumi a look for her comment as though to say what they're telling him is weird. She just grins back and shrugs awkwardly.

"And all of you can do the water thing that Kit can?" he continues.

"No," Ally says.

"Did you not say that you could bend?"

"Yes, but not everyone here is a Waterbender," Ally continues, "Hana is the other Waterbender, but each of us bends different things."

The tall man waits for a second and leans his head in his hand. "This is insane."

"Well, we won't prove what kind of bending we can do because your dear sister or her helpers might walk in on it," Hailey says, "And if you want, you could concentrate on the idea that Markus is trying to make another Epion and the fact that he is dealing and buying illegal arms. That should make you feel a little less crazy."

"Indeed," he mutters, sitting up straight, "Are you sure that this is the same Zanilo Markus that the Preventers are after?"

"Does he own a fancy catering company that goes all over the world and to the colonies?" Duo asks, leaning back in his chair, "And does he so happen to change the logo of the company every year?"

"Yes," Zechs answers with a nod.

"Same guy," the Airbender finishes, "No doubt about it. You can be filled in on the infiltration plan after breakfast and after another piece of business." A shot of nervousness spikes her blood, but she doesn't change in any outer appearances.

"We've decided that it's time to give y'all your gifts," Kit says with a bright, shaky smile, "Whether or not you'll appreciate them is up to you."

"Well, not really give them to you, per say," Zumi picks up, tapping her empty coffee cup, "but to let you know that they're done and for…a just-incase purpose only. Let's hope you won't have to use them."

Now Heero is paying attention. Before, he was aiming to not glare at Zechs and he was doing a wonderful job. Even Wufei, who looked to be sleeping standing up, is alert and ready.

The women decided, or Ally forced them, that the Airbender would be the one to break the news since she is the one that ordered a silence on it.

"You're gonna kill me," she mutters, sighing and rubbing her hand on her face.

"What is it, Ally?" Quatre gently asks. He's finally getting something from the women willingly and he isn't going to let this opportunity pass.

"Before I say this, do not blame them," she explains, waving in the general direction of the other benders, "I told them that this was under a silent order, so get mad at me."

The Airbender takes a steady breath. "We rebuilt your Gundams. All five."

Painful quietness drops down in the kitchen. Zechs takes his cue to leave. All he needed to hear was that the other pilots weren't going to be left defenseless. He is ignoring the fact that these strange women just rebuilt Gundams and he slips out of the kitchen. After some tense silence, Ally visibly gulps. It would be a lie if she said she wasn't afraid of them.

"Want to run that one by me again?" 02 finally says in a very dangerous voice.

"Not really," she whispers, but she keeps her head up. She will at least put on a good front.

"All those Black Market dealings were for this?" Wufei asks, calmly. Too calmly.

"Yes."

Another shattering silence lies in thick. Ally doesn't know what to do and the other women are trying to think of some way to help their friend.

"We…we did our best," she says weakly, her voice as steady as she can make it, "We were able to get a hold of some of the blueprints and old OZ information. They won't be as great as the originals or the upgraded versions, but…we did our―"

Ally had to stop. It was just making it worse. Right now, the war and choices this stupid conflict has forced her to make seems too unreal, too horrible, and too wrong. At this moment, Alincia Dunne feels as though she lost some of her humane part and has torn their humanity down at the same time. And she wants to cry because she truly doesn't feel bad for doing something so horrible to the world, her people and these five men whom she is slowly considering friends. Right now, Ally believes that she deserves to die because she can't even cry for her mistakes and choices.

Duo's chair screeches and hits the floor in a nauseating thud. She glances at the door to see him storm out. He only said one thing and left. Hana winces at the implications of that. Wufei leaves shortly after, even calmer than before. Even his footsteps can't be heard and they are too measured to be imperfect. Zumi has no doubt that he is infuriated beyond reasoning. Trowa leaves without much fanfare or extra reaction. He just gets up from his chair and leaves like nothing happened. However, Kit has a feeling he is ticked off, to say the least. Quatre gets up next and opens his mouth to try and say something. Instead, nothing is said. The Arab shakes his head and doesn't look at any of the women. Hailey can feel the tremors of anger he's suppressing. Heero leaves without a second thought after Quatre. He only stops long enough to send a thick stare at Kit for a moment and is gone the next.

Gone. All gone and they all left silently. The Airbender walks unsteadily to the table and sits slowly. Her head immediately drops in her hands.

"That could have gone worse," Hailey comments in a muted voice.

"They're just putting their reactions on hold," Hana responds. She takes a seat next to Ally and wraps an over her. "You did a good job, though."

"Shoulda told 'em earlier," she grumbles densely.

"Yes, but we didn't want to keep some hopes up if those hopes couldn't be met," Hana replies matter-of-factly. Ally snorts sarcastically and keeps her eyes on the table.

"I'm so damaged," the Airbender mutters darkly.

"Well, it's done now," Kit says with a sigh and takes the other side of Ally, grasping her arm. "All we can do now is trust and wait. Let's get to work."

No doubt about it. Today is going to be a long day.

The five women quietly trudge into the library to find it, not surprisingly, empty. The women take painful notice of this and begin to go over information and finishing up some smaller informational gathering. Zumi has never felt so horrible in quite a while. Every so often, her hands stop over the keyboard and she stares at the screen with blurred eyes. It takes her a minute to realize she's spacing out. Things were looking up after Markus got the lists. The suits were complete, they got some outside help from Zechs and his suit is still operational, Wufei and the others were warming up to them quickly and they got this information on Markus. Now, with one small sentence, that was all shot to hell.

Another wave of illness sweeps the Firebender. She knew they would have to be told. All of them knew that. However, Zumi didn't expect it to hurt so much when they all just left like that. Even Quatre didn't or couldn't say anything. Even Une doesn't know anything about the Gundams being rebuilt. All she can do is give a sigh, swallow to keep her heart in her chest and work on this mission. Yes, the mission is the only thing keeping her sane right now. Usually, she is one of the last to break down. The Hispanic woman always kept it together, even though Firebenders and Waterbenders have the most turbulent emotions. Despite that characteristic, Zumi keeps herself together and is always the one to be leaned on. So why are tears falling down her face and onto the table with a rapid pace? Hailey comes over to give her some information. The Earthbender stops at Zumi's pained face and places the papers down. One strong arm wraps around her and Hailey pulls Zumi into her side. The proud woman hides her bleary face in shame, burying deep into her friend's waist.

"I'm okay," she says, voiced muffled by the Earthbender's flesh, "I don't know why I'm doing this."

"Because you see them as friends," Hailey quietly explains, ignoring that all the other bender are watching them, "and you feel like you betrayed them."

"Well," she mutters, wiping her face clean, "I'll be fine. Whadda have for me?"

Hana understands just how Zumi feels. Betrayal doesn't even really cover what has been done. The men got rid of their demons long ago and, until the benders, those demons died. The Gundams. Those machines are what made them as they are today, what labeled them so long ago and a label that will always follow them around. She cannot even begin to imagine what kind of life each man led and what each had to do to survive the war. Hana can understand, however, what it's like to be weighed with a responsibility at a young age. And she knows that the adults that were so surprised that kids could do something so dangerous and thorough on their own. Now, the women have shoved all of that back into their faces, back into their lives. She can't blame Ally for her decision to keep the rebuilding quiet. In fact, she agreed with it once Une told them they really could get the original pilots. They were going to rebuild the Gundams with or without the pilots. It would just take longer to end the war without the first pilots.

No, she completely agreed with the Airbender and even encouraged it. However, Hana didn't think that the repercussions of giving the men the Gundams would be this great. Yes, she would be handing them a physical piece of their bloody pasts, but Hana has been so close to bloodshed and war her entire life, it didn't truly register. Also, she didn't know any of them. Collateral damage. It was the brand she gave them before meeting them. Duo always made her laugh and feel more secure because he always asked everyone how they were doing that day. Wufei, while quiet and harsh, would always have your back even if it seemed like he didn't like you. Trowa, though he didn't say much to all of them, would tell you anything that had to be told to you and wouldn't fuck around with you on that. Heero always made sure things got done and would listen to any opinion to see if it was better than his. Quatre…she didn't even have a way to describe that odd man. Let it just be said that he cares more than he should and more than she deserves.

No, she can't be mad with Ally or herself. All she can do is wait for something from the guys and hope it's positive. The Airbender quietly gets up and says that she needs a minute and that she'll be back. The redhead goes to the room she was given and shuts the door. She snatches up her thin bag and riffles through the pockets for a moment looking for her music player. No one knows that she owns one, not even the girls. Her guardians let her have it as an outlet when they had to hide, but those guardians also told her to keep it safe and hidden at all times. Old habits. Finally, she yanks out the thin, almost paper like object out and untangles the ear bud cord with some ease. This thing is like the old iPods from way back when. Eventually, this thin sheave of metal was made and it can hold millions of songs. Ally put that to use and she listens to every single one when she can. Half is filled with some oldies, like Muse and My Chemical Romance, and the like.

Ally may not be able to cry on her own, but the feelings are burning her up and tearing her mind into tiny rivulets. She needs to cry. Now. Once more in her short life, the Airbender has concluded that she has gone through too much to let herself cry. That is the only explanation she has towards her inability to cry freely. Even when she was a child and fell down, scrapping up her skin, her face would smug up but no tears. Not even dry sobs. It wasn't until before she met the other benders that she found out music was the only thing that could make her cry. Horrible and corny, but she has tried other things for years. This is the only thing that has worked every time. She doesn't think the women know about it. Honestly, it doesn't matter if they do or not. Right now, she needs something that will wring her heart out. Anything to stop the ache in her mind and her stomach. Anything to help with the fact that she should never lead anyone, not even goats, because all she leads to is destruction. It's her fault. It's her fault that the Origin Unit was betrayed. Her fault that her parents had to give her up and probably died. Her fault that the women got dragged into this. Her fault that Markus is still alive!

A strangled scream rips up her throat, part of her body controlling the burst of noise while creating it at the same time. Desperate hands grapple the small device and an ear bud is shoved in roughly one at a time. Her fault. The list flies by, Ally scanning something, anything until she just presses play, too impatient to actually look at what's playing. She turns the music nearly full blast. The ear buds pulse in her ears. Adam Lambert's guitar thrums in and she immediately sits on her bed to sing with it. The only way to cope is to sing her crying voice bloody.

"Hey, slow it down. What do you want from me?  
What do you want from me?  
Yeah I'm afraid. What do you want from me?  
What do you want from me?"

The strong music feels good on her shaking lips, but she keeps going. There's nothing left for her to do, but to continue. What the world wanted, she couldn't give. This woman received no help, only physical protection. This woman still feels like a child who was never taught how to walk and given a gun with a single bullet in it. That gun could jam on her at any time.

"There might have been a time,  
and I would give myself away.  
Oh, once upon a time I didn't give a damn.  
But now, here we are, so what do you want from me?  
What do you want from me?"

She's just striding into her twenties and she already feels run down with life. What does the world want her to do? What can she do? What can any of them do? Zumi, Hana, Kit, Hailey and Ally are lost with no culture, no knowledge and left with only power they can't even harness correctly. This was supposed to stop Markus? This is what the Spirits put faith in? The last Avatar didn't even make it that long before he died. What the fuck are they supposed to do?

"Just don't give up. I'm workin' it out.  
Please don't give in, I won't let you down.  
It messed me up, need a second to breathe.  
Just keep coming around.  
Hey, what do you want from me?  
What do you want from me?  
What do you want from me?"

Duo is stopped at Ally's door, listening to the strained voice coming from it. He was going to give the women a piece of his mind when he heard this pitiful whining and found that it was choked singing from Ally's strained alto voice. His anger is mixed with curiosity at this strange and vulnerable moment the Airbender is having. 02 knows he should feel bad for doing this, but she deserves it after dropping that news on him. Instead he leans towards the door to listen more intently.

"Yeah, it's plain to see  
that baby, you're beautiful  
and it's nothing wrong with you.  
It's me, I'm a freak (yeah),  
but thanks for lovin' me,  
'cause you're doing it perfectly.  
(It perfectly)

There might have been a time  
when I would let you step away.  
I wouldn't even try,  
but I think you could save my life."

Her voice cracks with something he can't recognize. Though her voice breaks, her volume becomes surer and her vibrato gets stronger. Somewhere in the refrain, the tears finally fall, dripping slowly down her round cheeks. Instinctively, she snatches a pillow and presses it to her stomach, trying to make her gut stop hurting. Of course, the action does nothing but sooths her a little.

"Just don't give up. I'm workin' it out.  
Please don't give in, I won't let you down.  
It messed me up, need a second to breathe.  
Just keep comin' around.  
Hey, what do you want from me?  
What do you want from me?

Just don't give up on me.  
I won't let you down.  
No, I won't let you down."

For once, Duo ignores his mind telling him to stay out of the room. The door opens with a creak. He winces, wondering how a door in this place would creak and shoots a look at the woman sitting on the bed. She continues, holding something over her stomach and her head tilted back while she rocks back and forth. He quietly closes the door and slowly approaches the singing woman. He's never heard something so sad and sorry in his life. Ally's voice wobbles, but she continues, letting every frustration out of her and clutching the pillow for life.

"(So I) just don't give up.  
I'm workin' it out  
Please don't give in, I won't let you down.  
It messed me up,  
need a second to breathe.  
Just keep coming around.  
Hey, what do you want from me?

Just don't give up, I'm workin' it out.  
Please don't give in, I won't let you down.  
It messed me up, need a second to breathe.  
Just keep coming around  
Hey, what do you want from me?  
What do you want from me?  
What do you want from me?"

Her voice breaks through his bones before the last lyric in the form of a question breathes out thickly, tiredly. Duo can't help but feel that the question is directed towards him. Ally visibly sags with the last note, shoulders hunching, head down as though she is waiting for an executioner. She roughly rips of the ear buds and throws the music player to her right. This is so stupid. She feels like a melodramatic ten-year-old. There's nothing left for her to do, but sit and wait until her body is done crying.

Duo is surprised that she hasn't noticed him yet. He is only five steps away from her, at the foot of the bed. He listens to her shuddering breath and can't believe what he's hearing. Tentatively, he takes steps around the bed and tries to see her face. Eyes are closes and moist as thick tears run down her face with gentle force. Her lips are loaded with a frown and her cheeks a bleary red. A sniffle comes from her, almost making the American jump back with shock. The object is a pillow firmly, if not desperately, pressed to her abdomen, her hands shaking every so often along with her shoulders. Duo can't believe it. She's crying. He moves fully in front of her and waits, unsure what to do. She snaps her reddened eyes at him and jumps back with a dagger suddenly in her hand. The blade is lowered instantaneously when she sees its Duo. The rest of her posture doesn't change. For a second, he wonders where she kept the blade and why a dagger, but that thought leaves as quickly as it comes.

Shock, shame and fear are frozen in her face as she is halfway off the bed. Mechanically, slowly, Ally lowers herself back to the bed and shakes her head to put her hair in her face. Away from Duo and away from the world. Great, she's been caught at one of her weak moments. By Duo. Perfect. He stands there, still too shocked to know what to say. This is Ally, the woman that kicks serious ass, can take down a mobile suit by hand and can get any mission done. Now, this is Ally, broken by her guilt and unable to stop crying in front of the one she harmed. 02 knows he needs to say something, anything.

"I was looking for you," he murmurs hoarsely. She makes no reaction.

"I was going to tell you off," he continues, "I was planning on telling you that you have no right to build something like that, let alone all of them. There was even a planed out speech."

"Have at it," she whispers, afraid to raise her voice, lest it wavy in tears.

He grunts with a hand in his bangs and plops heavily next to her on her bed.

"Now, to see you like this." She winces. "And to hear that song."

"I didn't want to do this, y'know," she says, tears still dropping like miniature Niagara Falls, "There are a lot of things I never wanted to do."

Duo hums in a neutral response and watches her blatantly. He did come here to yell at her, to throw things at her for being so damn stupid. Now, after seeing her like this, it has sobered that sticky anger for a moment and it's sitting on the pot somewhere in Duo. There can be a million answers to the question he's about to ask, but he will ask either way.

"Why are you crying?" he asks, "What makes you do this?"

The Airbender stiffens and moves her head father down and away from him.

"If I tell you, you'll hate me."

"Try me. It takes a lot to make me hate."

"I…I'm crying because I can't…stop making decisions that hurt those around me and the friends I have. I cry because I hate myself for doing things I can't get out of. I hate myself for not finding a better solution. I cry because…because I can't feel the guilt for all the horrible actions I have done. That guilt doesn't go any deeper than a superficial level and I cry because I can't feel it." She looks up at Duo with unguarded eyes, bitter and pleading. "What's wrong with me?"

A simple question, but Duo has no idea how to answer it. He never knew any of this before and he wasn't expecting this at all. Instead, he doesn't react, unsure how. Slowly, those emotions are more subdue and her head slowly drops back down, blocking him with a wave of red.

"Aren't you here to yell at me?" she asks, somewhat sarcastically and somewhat uncaringly.

"Don't think I can, now," he says with a sigh. How did this happen? Oh right, Duo couldn't leave the room alone.

"Don't let this stop you," she says, gesturing to her hidden face.

"It's not that," he huffs out, "Seeing you like this made me stop and realize that you had to do this. What better thing against the Epion than a Gundam? I can see that you also did your homework and saw that you need five, not just one."

"It's my fault," she chants to herself, "If I didn't fuck up with Markus and let the bastard live, none of this would be happening."

"That personal run-in?" Duo confirms.

She hums and hangs her head lower, if possible.

"I can't say that I'm not mad with you," the brunette continues, "and I can't say that I forgive you. However, I do understand why you did it and I'm not condoning the reasoning. In fact, the pragmatic ass in me is saying it was the right thing to do." She looks at him. "So, for now, all I can give you is that I understand your actions. Maybe, one day, I can forgive them too."

Unexpectedly, she throws her arms over him and tugs him close. What he gives her is more than she anticipated, more than she's entitled to.

"I'm still not forgiving you," he mutters darkly, placing his hands on her shoulders to keep from hugging back. She pulls away, tears ebbing slightly.

"I wouldn't think you would," she replies with a small, pained grin, "and I don't think you ever will. The mere fact that you understand that I didn't have a choice…helps me in some way."

"Alincia," Duo murmurs, tugging some of her hair from her face, "What else are you hiding?"

The Airbender chokes for a moment and tries to bring her composure back under control.

"What happened with Markus? What's got you so burned out?"

Instead of answering, she gets up and roughly rubs her face. After a shaky breath, she turns a neutral face to 02. Duo knows immediately that he lost any open ground with her.

"It would take too long to explain," she says in a worn voice and takes his hand, "But I promise, I will tell you anything you want after he's dead."

She moves to take her hand, but he tightens his grip.

"You better," he says darkly, startling Ally. Gundam pilot 02 has shown himself to her, and the Airbender swallows hard and nods.

He sighs and gets up, letting go of her hand and heads towards the door.

"I'm gonna get to work," he says in a slightly lighter voice and turns to grin at her, "I'm gonna get my answers out of you, have no doubt about that."

The door shuts and Ally blinks uncertainly. This man confuses her with all his mood swings. He certainly promises a lot of impossible things.

02 heads to the library and sits down at a table that Ally once occupied. Zumi and Hana glance over at Duo. The two look at each other and shrug. The Firebender gets up to go to the kitchen so she can wash the tears off her face. Hailey drops a new piece of information on Duo's table and asks how he is. Duo shrugs and says he just wants to get this done; that he has a debt to collect on. The Earthbender gives him a confused look, but ignores it. Hana and Kit take over Zumi's computer station and murmur questions between each other.

Wufei comes to the library door and looks around. Hailey and Duo catches his eyes, and Wufei walks towards them. 02 shrugs at Wufei's questioning look and gets back to work. She puts the papers down and stands her full height.

"What do you want to do?"

"I would like to kill all of you for doing this," the Chinese man starts, crossing his arms, "and then blow up the counter-weapons that all of you were stupid enough to make. However, realistically, I can't. The Epion can only be defeated by certain things and by good pilots. So I've come here to work and to get this done."

"Well, this should make you feel at least a little better," Hailey says with a nod, happy that two are still helping, "One is that you can do whatever you please with them after. The other is, if we get this idiot Markus now the Gundams won't even be used."

"We better work so we don't have to use them, then," Wufei says and takes up another computer.

The group of people begins to work again and Zumi walks back in, smoothing down her bangs with a loud sigh. She freezes at Wufei's harsh gaze. The look only lasted a moment before he looks back at his screen. The Firebender is shocked that he's here, but says nothing and takes a spot next to Hailey.

"When did he come in?" she whispers.

"A second before you came in," Hailey replies, handing her some I.D. cards to check, "He'll work with us, for now."

The rest of the day continues until the afternoon. Zechs eventually comes to the library to work, hoping that he gave them enough time to cool trigger fingers. Soon, the elder Peacecraft is caught up and it is soon decided that he is too easily noticed to be in the active field and would help in the electronic part of the infiltration.

"I have lived in secrecy before," Zechs says, somewhat defensively.

"That was before you were known to be a living Peacecraft," Kit counters with a smile, "And now you're known even more since you were supposed to be dead…again."

"You're hair doesn't really help either," Zumi adds, tapping away on a computer, "There's nothing wrong with your hair; it's just a beacon for attention."

Duo snorts down a laugh, despite the somber and tense mood, and leans down to the blueprints to hide his smile. The rest of the day passes quietly and Ally rejoins the infiltrators. Instead of having dinner together, the ex-pilots disappear for the rest of the night. Zechs asked Kit if she was okay, and she just smiled away his concern saying that she deserved this treatment. The women have a silent dinner, no one really in the mood to talk. The evening eventually winds down and before the women stop working in the library, Trowa and Quatre come in. Wufei and Duo turned in already and haven't been seen since.

"I do not approve of what all of you are doing," Quatre says, turning into a mix of a businessman and pilot, "However, I have decided to continue to assist this cause."

The women all react in some small way. Ally just nods and Hailey murmurs thanks and continues to work. Kit smiles at him and waits to see if he wants to say anything else. Zumi just nods and continues to count papers. Hana smiles cautiously at Quatre and looks away from his still face. He's really angry. Trowa clears his throat.

"I'm still in too, despite this screw up," Trowa says, "However, when this is over; I want Heavyarms back in my possession."

"Trowa," Ally laughs, "You can do whatever you want with it after all this is done."

The two leave without much else said or done and heads back to where ever they came from. After just a few minutes, the rest of the women plainly head to bed.

* * *

One of the few times in his life, Heero doesn't know what to do. The night air laps in a breeze, announcing that the summer time is in full on Earth. A wind brushes against his face while he leans forward on his knees in the patio chair. He was told to always follow his emotions, even if he didn't understand them. There is just one small problem. How is he supposed to follow them when his brain and heart are too muddled, confused and angry for him to make a clear decision? All day, 01 tried to ignore the fact that he feels as though Kit and the other women betrayed him in some way. It's ludicrous for him to feel that way, because he would have resurrected the Gundams too. Heero can't dismiss the pain. A door slides open behind him and someone else takes a seat. Trowa waits for some kind of recognition from Heero.

The two silent pilots make eye contact for a second before Heero returns his gaze over the large front yard of the Peacecraft Palace. Trowa wanted to ask Heero how he was doing after all of this. Quatre really wanted to come out here instead, but the Arab thought that Trowa would connect better with Heero than he would. Trowa complied with Quatre's request and so here he is.

"Having some trouble deciding?" the taller pilot offers. The conversation has to start somewhere.

"It's been a while since I've been this indecisive," he replies.

"I've decided to continue working with them."

Heero looks over at Trowa for a moment until Trowa nods in confirmation to his statement.

"And how did you come to that?"

"I'm angry with them as well, Heero," Trowa explains, "More than I show it. However, I must applaud them for getting the Gundams up and working again. I have no doubt that it was a choice that didn't come easily."

The two fall silent for a moment before Heero leans back in his seat.

"They lived through it too," Heero mutters, "They lived through the war OZ put on while still living and fighting in their own. I know I shouldn't be so angry at them, but I am. I'm so angry that I can't think clearly."

"Do you know what Wufei told me once about war?" Trowa questions, looking out to the dark yard.

"No."

"One day, when we were just getting started in the Preventers, Wufei commented that the definition of war is simply this: it is a contest to see who can come out with the most resources, most soldiers and most mental damage. Therefore, there are no winners, just survivors and serious mental issues."

"I guess to win a war, you have to stop one from happening," Heero says, "I will do what is needed to finish this mission. Whether or not I will ever trust these benders again is another matter entirely."

"Heero, if there is one thing I learned from you," Trowa says, getting up with a faint smile, "It's that you always get the mission done."

* * *

Quatre wakes up earlier than usual. He wasn't able to sleep very well. The coffee pot is nearly full and he gets up for a second cup. No doubt he will need it today considering that the infiltration mission will happen in a few hours. Someone else stumbles into the kitchen and grabs a cup for coffee. Hailey was finally able to get some correct hair products and washed her scalp vigorously last night. She forgot how much the conditioner burns after fifteen minutes. After loading the coffee with more sugar than the hot drink, she heavily plops down across from Quatre and takes a hearty sip of the caffeine.

"You are the source of life," she whines thickly, holding the cup close to her face, "Life, I say."

"Not much of a morning person, then?" he jokingly asks.

"Not much of a waking-up person," she replies completely unsurprised that he is there, "I could wake up in the middle of the night to get something done after fifteen hours of sleep and still want coffee."

"Then you're addicted."

She glares a little and mutters that he may be right before taking another swig. The two nurture the coffee cups for a few minutes of silence before Quatre asks another question.

"Why are you up so early?"

"Honestly? I couldn't sleep," she says, leaning away from the now empty cup, "Everyone here is so tense, not that I blame them, and that Zechs guy paces for hours and always randomly. This place is too loud to sleep. I take it you can't sleep either?"

"Not really," he replies with a smile.

"You're still really angry, then."

"No I'm not."

"Liar," she says before getting up and refilling her cup, "You're good at it. Heart rate was low, voice stable, tenseness almost non-existent. You seem to forget that I can feel those small changes when someone lies. You're good, but you don't enjoy it. Because of that, you can only pass so many lie detectors."

Quatre snorts and drops his smile. "So I'm still mad."

"You can back out, y'know," she comments, resuming her seat and blowing on the cup, "We won't stop you."

"I don't want to abandon this cause," he grumbles, tapping his mug.

"Quatre, I am sorry that we did this. I truly am," she says, leaning towards him, "but I, can't regret bringing these things back to operation. The pain and suffering I cause you, yes I regret that more than even I know. I am also sorry for putting you in an ethical crux."

The blonde glances up at the ebony skinned woman for a moment.

"Yes, I did think about that," she continues with a nod, "You're a proclaimed pacifist and people know that you were the one in a Gundam. We're asking you to break a promise to yourself and to the world by sitting back down in that cockpit. I know that and I am sorry for that. However, I will not back down from our plan to use them, if need be."

Not only is Quatre worried about being seen as a hypocrite to the rest of the world and his business plummeting, he is also worried that the Zero Effects will worsen if he pilots again.

"Do you realize what you have asked for?" he asks in a heavy voice, "I will help in any way I can, but if it comes to using them again against the Epion, I want you to make sure that you understand what kind of toll a mobile suit battle will take."

"I am more than ready to die," she says in an almost conversational way, "More than you think. The world has endured far worse than mobile suit battles before and will endure even more than what we can muster. Yes, we will attack the world, the peace created, the mindset of you and the other pilots and ourselves and our own people. We knew that a long time ago. If destroying ourselves and what we live around is what it takes to stop this, I will be the first to blow the bomb."

He locks her dark eyes with his, searching for some kind of falter or change. The only thing that happens is a grin spreads across her face. A grin of battle-ready insanity. Quatre has no doubt she would do what Heero did and blow herself up if that's what it takes to stop this war. He returns that insane grin for a second before softening it and extending his hand.

"Then you have me to set the bombs," he says, grasping her firm hand.

"I thought explosives were my department."

The two look over to Duo stumbling into the kitchen and pours a black cup of coffee. The brown braid is fuzzy cable of hair.

"I can't set them?" Quatre asks with a chuckle.

"Just as long as I can make them," he says with a face full of mug.

The three continue to caffeinate for the day before heading back to their separate rooms to get ready for the day. Hailey heads off to the library, thinking she'd be the first one there. She isn't the least surprise that she can feel one, heavy weight in the library. There is only one person close to Hailey's weight. She enters the bright room to see Ally already working over separating the I.D. cards and spreading out the blueprint. The Earthbender pats the shorter woman on the head and takes a seat next to her.

Eventually, the women and men come in and Zechs is the last, cautiously and quietly looking around to make sure no one will attack one another. Soon, everyone has plans made out and ready. Ally, Hana and Trowa will all go in to the building as executive workers. Heero will pose as a set-up worker along with Wufei and Zumi will be in charge of his caterer unit. Duo and Kit will take care of the security cameras, guards and other electronic locks. Zechs, Hailey and Quatre will be around the ground perimeter. They don't have enough people to cover the roof, so that will be something Ally will have to worry about if Markus makes a break for the roof.

"Alright, there is only one more thing to worry about," Hana says, gathering up the papers and dishing out I.D. tags, "Where are we going to hide our Plan B?"

"The Gundams?" Duo asks, "Dunno. It was hard enough to hide those clunkers during the war. We can't just leave them outside like we used to."

"Hey Zechs," Ally says in a drawn tone, tapping her check, "Where are you hiding Tallgeese?"

"In a museum, actually," he says with a small smile, "A mobile suit museum. I donated it, telling them that the ammunition and engine are removed."

"And it's not?" Kit asks with a growing grin.

He just continues his small smile.

"Would they take Gundam replicas?" Ally asks, "Or are there some storage rooms that are free?"

"I will take care of it after today," Zechs says with a nod.

"You are so damn crazy," Kit laughs, lightly hitting the table with her hand, "That just makes my day."

"Let's suit up," Ally says, getting up and leaving, "We got a psycho to catch."


	13. Chapter 13

Sat. back with yet another chapter. So the last one was a bit more angst than I meant it to be, but things happen this way. I don't do this enough, so thank you to all who review despite my sluggish updates! This one is specifically for y'all! I own nothing familiar. The song is _Uprising_, by Muse.

* * *

Chapter Thirteen: A Hard Catch is a Good Catch

Life.

That word comes with so many different meanings and so many simplicities, if one can make life simple. Life can be an action, a person, a curse, praise, need, something to blame trouble on, and that thing which has no definition. Always, it is different and changing. It's nothing and everything. This isn't the first time the idea and word "life" has been contemplated by a single human. At times, it makes no sense for a being that lives only a hundred years, at best, to try and put the idea and definition of "life" on paper. Why would something with such a short span of life try to figure out something that was there before they were born and will be well after? Yet, people question and debate and logic out half answers, half guesses and half prayers.

Heero Yuy is, not for the first time, questioning where his life is going and how it turned out in such a strange way. The war is done, and yet he is back fighting in one with women that can control elements. He is back in Relena's home once again and his Gundam has been rebuilt in efforts to try and stop another Epyon that might be rebuilt. It's during this time, the stirring hour right before dawn, when he wonders why he just didn't walk away from everything after the war. Heero could have left the Preventors. The true fact is he didn't even need to join. Une didn't need him. She still doesn't. When he thinks about it, dangerous missions and infiltrations are his life. And there that blasted word is again. Life.

Today is the day when they all go to catch Markus. The Japanese man couldn't really sleep that well. Being in Relena's house again with all these mixed emotions from his Gundam existing again to Kit acting friendly with Zechs has left him…frazzled. 01 does not enjoy being frazzled. He hefts a sigh and gets up from the balcony chair he was sitting in for the last hour or so. The lack of sleep doesn't worry him. What does is the lack of sureness in his life. The house is quiet, if one could call this palace a house. Relena had the courtesy to place all the men and women on the same hall of guestrooms. He walks back into his room and straight out of it. 01 isn't generally a person to wander the halls. Unnecessary movement is something he takes pride in avoiding. At this moment, though, he needs physical action and walking will do just that. Eventually, he ends up near the library and looks at the one computer still on. There must be someone up.

Heero wanders away from the familiar halls that they have used for the last couple of days and go down darkened halls. As he walks, he thinks and tries to figure out what he's going to do about his life. For so many years, he has been told what to do or how to do something. Even now, with no war orders, he is still told what to do. At one point, that doesn't bother him. It gives Heero some direction in life. Most of the time, the orders were minimum and loose for interpretation. There, in the middle of the lightening hallway, a cliché setting for an epiphany, Heero comes to realize what his problem is. No doubt, it's more than just this simple answer, but it's a start. Heero has never known what he's wanted. Most of the time, he has never had time to think about what he wants, but now he does and that's why his life is so random. Then, what does he want? Better yet, what does he need? Does he need this constant action or does he want it? It's undeniable that he feels a little surer of himself when bullets are flying at his head, but does he need it? Heero shakes his head, trying to fend off any more aching questions.

"Heero? What are you doing here?"

The Japanese man freezes for a moment from the tired voice and recognizes where he wandered to. He turned to see Relena with her hair frazzled while she rubs her eyes. Once, when he was younger and just starting in the Preventers, Heero was Relena's bodyguard and lived here for more than half of his job, patrolling the halls. No doubt his body moved on muscle memory.

"Thinking," he mutely responds and starts to walk away.

"Hang on a second, Heero," she says a little more lucidly, "I know that all of you are off to do whatever you came here for this morning, but I have to ask why you came here for refuge. Did you only come here because you knew I wouldn't turn you away, my first crush and first heartache?"

"Relena," he starts slowly and turns towards her, "I came here because I knew I could trust you not to let any of this out to the public. I also trust in the defenses around your home to know we wouldn't be putting you in any kind of danger. As much as I dislike your brother at times, he can put a security system together very well."

"At times?" she jokes with a raised brow, and then turns somber. "So you didn't come here to use me, but you're also not here to see if we can pick up any semblance of the relationship we had before you handed the bodyguard position over."

"What I said then still stands," he replies, shaking his head, "You helped me with so many things back then, and I will always have a place for you. However, I can't return the feelings you want."

"Follow your emotions, huh?" Relena says with a sad chuckle and leans on the doorway, "Can't blame a girl for trying."

"Please, I'm sorry that I brought this back to your mind again."

"You didn't really. You had a profound and growing impact on my life, too. Heero Yuy, I'm dead sure that if I didn't meet you, I wouldn't have taken up all the endeavors I had and the ones I still struggle with."

"That may be true, but you would have fought for peace, either way."

"Not like this," she murmurs with a smile, "At least tell me good-bye this time, okay?"

Without waiting for a reply, the young Peacecraft shuts the door back to her room. Perhaps she's crying. Sleeping, if she's lucky. Maybe smiling. Heero just shakes his head and decides to go through with her request, for once. At the end of the hallway, a small, unnoticeable swish of fabric rustles down the hall back to the library. So Kit was right. She takes her seat again at the bright computer screen, looking over the layouts of the building and checking the emergency exits. The Waterbender had a hunch that something like this happened between those two. It's hard not to notice the tension they bring out in each other. Unsettled tension. Kit isn't sure how to react. At that thought, she roughly shakes her head. The woman shouldn't care at all how to react!

It doesn't and shouldn't matter. Yet, the more she tries to look at the map, the more confused her emotions become. Kit feels as though she should be angry with Relena and Heero. In a few, small ways, she is. She feels scorn towards the blonde woman and hate and pain fueled by betrayal. She doesn't have the right to feel these things! Extinguishing the computer's life and turning the monitor off, she roughly gets up. The chair scraps the floor louder than she intended and a hiss comes from her, berating the movement. Shaking her head at the chair and at herself, she walks towards the door, only to take a startled step back. Heero is turned to walk down the hall, but he looks at her in the darkened room. A number of thoughts fling through her mind. Did he see her spying on him? Maybe he knows, by some strange superpower, that she has been fretting over Relena and his past relationship.

"I was wondering who was on the computer this early," he mumbles, rubbing his face tiredly.

"Just double checking," she weakly replies, "I'm a bit jittery."

Quietness passes between them. Not only is the silence tense but it is also very awkward. Guilt weighs down on her chest. Sure, he agreed to help them. But…she feels responsible for all of this. After all, she did drag them into this mission and completely blindsided all of the pilots from the start. Ally says to blame it all on her, but Kit damns that statement. She is just as responsible for most of it. Yes, she wanted to tell them earlier, but Kit might have done exactly what Ally did and withheld all information until the last moment.

"Not happy with something?" he questions, glancing at the chair. He did not wish to talk about it either.

"Don't like the way the building's made," Kit says with a shrug, not lying, "Thing's a maze. One would think to make all the emergency exits more available to those in need."

"Kit, I don't think we're the ones in need," he comments with a small smile.

"I think our cause is noteworthy." The black haired woman jokingly sticks her nose in the air and saunters towards 01. "Not my fault if we have to break in."

Heero just smiles and shrugs to concede the pointless conversation.

"Why are you up?"

"Trying to find out the answer to life."

"Ah, any luck?"

The two begin to walk down the hallway, back to their assigned rooms.

"No."

"Damn. Have you tried number forty-two?"

The ex-pilot snorts at that reference and says he will give it a try once he figures out the mystery around that number. Instead of any more conversation, they walk slowly down the hallways, gradually getting to their destinations.

"Kit?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you going to do after all of this is done?"

She is silent for a moment, tapping her cheek.

"I have no friggin' clue. With that kind of freedom, I could do a lot. One thing's for sure. Finding a job will be a bound and a half."

He nods and let's silences of the morning take them again for a while.

"You…could always work for the Preventers."

Kit does falter and catches the wall for support, sending a ludicrous and surprised look at him. Why is he offering her this idea? Wouldn't he want to get away from her, at the very least?

"Do you need coffee or something?"

"I'm serious." Even that answer surprises Heero. 01 is very unsure why he is saying any of this. Perhaps he is too exhausted.

"An interesting offer and idea," she draws out with pursed lips, "but one that could lead to disaster. That line of work would bring out my heritage just a bit too much. There will be moments where I will use it and I won't be able to hide it. Would you offer that to the other girls?"

"If they wanted to take the job, yes. I would offer the idea to them." Why?

"Ally working for Une…I would pay to see that."

They come to a parting, Kit at her assigned room. She turns to look at a very awake Heero and just smiles with a small laugh. As serious as he looks, he still looks like a kid or puppy waiting for an answer. Without much thought, a grin spreads on her mouth and he gives her a questioning look, like a dog cocking his head to the side. Yes, Heero reminds her of a puppy with grenades for teeth.

"I will have to think about it," she finally responds, "One job at a time, right? Ask me again after this whole thing is over and I should have an answer for you then. Until that wonderful time, I will see you in a few hours."

She opens the door with one hand and steps in. Before shutting the door, Kit glances at him up through her long hair that falls in front of her face with a smile. At that moment, for a few good seconds, Heero Yuy was completely off guard. He was told to follow his emotions, but this is unreasonable. The man comes back to his senses when the door clicks softly and he swivels his head, looking for an opportunistic enemy to stab him in his head. Right then, Heero felt something strange and it scared him that the feeling didn't scare him. Heero enjoyed being caught off guard by Kit. There is something very wrong with him.

* * *

Surprisingly, Relena has been very helpful with this illegal operation. Ally did warn her that if she was even suspected of being involved with what the pilots and benders are doing today that Relena's reputation will be marred beyond repair. Without much of a reason, other than helping friends and family, she forced herself into the operation by providing some clothing that would suit the three going into the office as executive workers. After Ally and Hana picked out some clothes from Relena's closet and had them altered accordingly, Zechs decided to give Trowa a hand, considering they were both about the same height.

The morning is still tense because the men now know the Gundams exist again from the women's effort, but each of them have put forth correct amount of effort to pull this job off. Heero and Zumi get into a van with an old logo of the catering company that Markus owns. Somehow, one of the men got it overnight and the women are just smart enough not to ask how they got it. Zechs may have something to do with it. Heero drives in a white shirt with the newest logo from the company while Zumi sits in the passenger side in just jeans and a nice t-shirt. They drive off down the large driveway and take a longer route to get to the building downtown. It wouldn't do anyone much good to have everyone there at the same time. Zechs, Hailey and Quatre left before they did and should be already around the perimeter of the building at some of the local coffee shops.

Heero, Wufei and Zumi are stuck in a little traffic. Though he is very calm, Zumi scowls and mutters that the world knows their plans. Instead of getting any type of reaction, Heero just stares ahead with both hands on the steering wheel. The Firebender glances over to him for a moment and swallows anything else that might come out as a silly comment. With an unsteady, but quiet gulp, she steels herself.

"You're…always gonna be really mad at us, aren't you?"

He glances over to her and moves forward a little faster. She huffs a sigh, and plops her head on her palm with little care and grace.

"What a stupid question. Of course you're still mad at us. It hasn't even been a whole day. Damn, I don't even feel like I deserve to ask for an apology."

A better word to say would be "plead," but Zumi has too much pride to get such a heartfelt word like that out.

"Can you blame me?" he questions in a very stoic voice.

Zumi has heard him talk in a flat voice before, but this one is laced with heavy, explosive ice. Wufei sits in the back, arms crossed and eyes closed. Pure silent treatment. He hasn't said anything to Zumi since yesterday morning.

"Not really…but I could be a complete bitch and ask you the same question."

"It's not that I disagree with…the backup plan. I would not dissuade any of you at all. Those things are the only thing that could have a small chance of destroying Markus's weapon, should it come to that."

"But?"

"That is a part of my past that I burnt long ago," he continues, turning where needed, "I will not avoid the idea that seeing those things again won't hurt. I know it will. The world will always have violence in it. I was just hoping that those things wouldn't be necessary anymore."

"The world is never like that," she sighs with a sad look, "History has proven that many times. There will be a break from war and violence, but it's just that: a break. However, if we catch this jerk, there won't be any need for the war to worsen and we can live out the rest of our break."

Instead of replying to the obvious statement, Heero continues driving. The others should be getting there soon.

* * *

"Ready here," Quatre says into a small mic on his shirt collar.

He is situated at a coffee shop with a bad name and bad pastries, but he sits with a cup of tea either way. Tea seems to be the only thing remotely safe in this horrible shop. Quatre does his best not to grimace and focuses on the task at hand.

"_Ready and waiting,"_ Hailey replies over the comm.

"_Set and ready,"_ Zechs says calmly.

Hailey and Zechs are situated at a couple other coffee shops around the catering building. Quatre has the front section, Zechs is to the right down the same street Quatre and the building is on and Hailey is on the next street over behind the building. Nine o'clock traffic is thick down the street with angry drivers honking and trying to jump around the other drivers to make it to work a minute earlier. The Arab slowly sips his tea while looking at a newspaper in front of him. He is just looking down the street, waiting for a particular car to show up. After a few minutes of waiting, a van pulls up to the side of the building and an annoyed, tan woman gets out and slams the door shut. She storms to the glass doors of the large building.

"They're here," Quatre mutters almost silently into his mic.

"_Roger."_

"_Gotcha."_

A few moments after that, he sees a nondescript man in a worker uniform for the building get out of the van and walk down the side to gain entrance in the loading area.

"One is in," he says to the others, "Waiting for more visual."

"_All clear on this end,"_ Hailey reports.

"_Waiting on this side. No movement," _Zechs says.

The van came down the street in the direction of Zechs's post, so there are four sides of the building covered. Quatre can only hope it's going well inside the building, too. Ally, Hana and Trowa entered the building about an hour ago, getting used to being around there and searching for the best routes in case the maps they got didn't match. Duo and Kit left before they did and he has no idea where they are or what they're doing. However, since it involves 02, Quatre is quite happy not knowing what he's doing.

Zumi takes on a livid face as she stomps up to the desk and the poor fool sitting there, waiting for his death. Taking a small swallow of air, she prepares to use her Spanish accent to the fullest. The longer she can stall for Heero, the better.

"'ey!" she barks at the receptionist, "I need tu see theh ehdiot who sent me theh wrong ahddress! Because of him, I'm laghte!"

"Excuse me, ma'am, but I don't know what you're talking about?" the poor man stutters, trying to decipher her thick accent, "Who is it that sent you out?"

"I don' know!" she snaps back, leaning over the counter, "That's theh whole problem! Don't jeu 'ave a list of people that goh out?"

"A list? No, I don't think so," he replies looking around on his desk.

Zumi hopes Heero is already in the back with Duo and Kit. She knows she can only hold this out for a little bit longer before it becomes a scene. That's what they don't want.

"May I have you name?" the receptionist asks, pulling up his computer.

"Shure. My name is Marie Anita Michella Louisa Adora Bibiana San Augusto de Eloisa."

She looks at him, a little smug at his confused face. "Dijd jeu get that?"

"I-I'm afraid not," he replies weakly, "Again, if you don't mind."

Zumi huffs dramatically and mutters something distasteful in Spanish about gringos.

"My name is Marie Anita Michella―"

"_I'm done and in the car,"_ Heero's voice whispers through the earpiece.

"―Louisa Adora…Jeu know what, forgeht it. I will just call theh number he gave meh. Jeu jus' useless."

Zumi spins on her heel and walks out somewhat dramatically, throwing up her hands. She drops her huff when she gets back in the van and Heero merges with traffic. Wufei is missing from the back of the van. Just as planned.

"_I'm in the ducts,"_ Wufei says through Heero's earpiece.

"Good. Keep in contact if something goes wrong," he replies, "We'll be at the designated area and will come pick you up when needed."

"He's in?" Zumi asks, leaning forward a little.

"Yes."

"That's good. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to hold out that rant much longer before more people got involved."

He nods.

"It's been a while since I've gotten pegged with the getaway job," she says, looking out the side window.

"Bibiana?" he asks with a small smirk.

Zumi grins back and says she was thinking of the most random names possible. She was afraid that she wouldn't remember every name she said.

* * *

Kit hovers over her purple laptop in the dark and moist room. Duo and Kit are in one of the more abandoned loading docks. This one that they're in happens to be more of a storage room for random stuff that the building doesn't have need for and no room for in the actual building. Wufei just went past them, off to manipulate the main fuse boxes of the building. After all, the others may need a quick escape. The Waterbender quickens her pace, knowing that Ally, Trowa and Hana will need some video cover for the security cameras.

"Gonna get that crazy nut todaaay," she mutters in a singsong voice, "Gonna take him down to the ground and let the wolves haaave 'em!"

"You should make a single out of that," Duo mutters back, using his black laptop to hack for more information from Markus's office computer.

"I believe it will be a one-hit wonder," she replies, fingers quietly clicking over the board, "I'm ready. What about you?"

"Pullin' as many files as I can," Duo responds and huffs. "Heero is faster at this than I am."

"I'm sure you're just as much as a badass," she says with a grin.

He just grins and continues to pull and copy documents that look somewhat important. After a few moments of typing and Wufei confirming his position via two-way radio, Duo stops for a moment.

"Huh. This looks promising."

"Ally? All of you are good to go," Kit quietly reports in her earpiece, "You have twenty minutes." She turns to look at her current partner. "What?"

"Oh, just something our friend here has been hiding," Duo explains blandly, but a bright grin opens his face.

Kit just smirks and continues to keep feeding the cameras fake video.

* * *

"Confirmed," the Airbender mutters to her earpiece.

The three of them have been in the building for a few hours now, just to create an alibi. Trowa is already on Markus's floor and Hana is just one below her. Ally heads for the elevator and presses the up button, files and envelops addressed to Markus in hand. Naturally these are fake but they are also outside mail that wouldn't be circulated in the building. She steps into the appointed elevator, confident in Kit's abilities and takes a steadying breath. Trowa should already be at the secretary's desk to distract and remove the person there and Hana already removed the personal assistant, convincing the man to buy her coffee. Despite her personality, Hana can be incredibly flirtatious and deceptive when it calls for it. Water does adapt quickly, after all.

The dark doors open with a soft ding and an automated voice confirms the number of the floor. Ally steps out confidently, heels clicking on the white floors. The two desks flanking double doors are empty. Without a thought, she walks between the desks and slips a red lock behind her ear. Because of circumstances, none of them donned any of their normal disguises. The only thing different are the clothes each worn. No contacts, glasses, hair color, nothing. Ally is grateful that no one knows what any of the benders actually look like. She briefly knocks on the door and enters before anyone can respond.

This is it. The moment Ally takes Markus down and ends this war. She steps in almost meekly. Just as practiced, she will approach the desk and tell Markus that she has some new mail for him. Then she will go behind him and hold a gun to the back of his head and tell him to get up and walk out of the building with her where Heero and Zumi will wait with the van. After that, they will drive off to the closest Preventers building and go from there. Yes, just as planned. He has nowhere to go and no real way of getting help.

She looks up to see an empty desk.

Panic spikes in her for a moment. She drops the mail and other documents on the desk and looks around the expensive office. She still has fifteen minutes. There are no secret doors that she can find. The bathroom is empty. He didn't step out of office, did he? No, he is usually in here working on something. He has his own kitchenette joining the bathroom. Her hands begin to shake. She leaves the office calmly and looks at the secretary's desk. Looking down the hallway, she looks for an appointment book. Ally flips it open, rushing for this week and…Markus is out on business for the whole week and next week. She shuts the book and walks dumbfounded back to the elevator after gathering her fake papers.

Nothing. All of this was for nothing. She pulls up her jacket's lapel and mutters that he wasn't there and to pull out. Trowa walks the secretary back to her desk, the twit giggling at the tall pilot. The two pass Ally and she continues to the elevator, ignoring them completely. She does, however, slow her pace so he can catch up to her before the elevator doors open. Ally presses the button, hearing Trowa come up behind her. The doors open a moment later and the two step in. once the metal doors shut, the Airbender sighs and slumps against the wall.

"He wasn't there," she mutters, defeated, "He won't be there for this whole week and next week."

"We did not know that," Trowa responds, looking at the numbers lighting up, "He was called away this morning. That is what is secretary said."

"So it was on a last minute notice," she grumbles, "Great. All this risk for nothing."

A ding announces the first floor and the two steps out. Ally heads to the women's restroom while Trowa walks out of the building all together and across the street to the coffee shop. The same shop Quatre is in. Ally leaves the restroom soon after Trowa and Quatre leave the coffee shop. Before leaving the building, however, Ally tries to contact Hana to see where she is.

"_I'm taking the back way out,"_ Hana whispers in Ally's earpiece, _"I had no other way."_

"What do you mean?"

"_I'm being followed. I think they know I don't work here."_

"Shit, where are you?"

"_I'm coming out in the alleyway where Heero and Zumi are supposed to be."_

"Tell them you have some loose leeches on you," the Airbender whispers and walks out of the building.

"_I already did. They are supposed…damnit."_

"What?"

Ally turns the corner at the end of the block and uses some bending to get on to a roof of a neighboring building.

"_They're some ahead of me. The space I'm in is too narrow. I can't get away from them."_

"Do you see the van?"

"_No. I'm early." _

"Hide somewhere, get out of there!" Ally hisses before jumping onto a fire escape on Markus's building, "Do what you have to so you can get the fuck outta there!"

This is unthinkable. She takes the fire escape one air bound at a time, literally leaping a ladder at a time. There is no way that the ten of them came here to not only have Markus pulled out from under them, but Ally flat refuses to lose anyone to those bastards in black suits. The Airbender reaches the edge, slamming her hands on the concrete guard to stop herself just in time to see Hana kicking men in suits left and right. She hasn't resorted to water bending yet. Hana breaths evenly, keeping her cool under this possible abduction. The Waterbender knows that if she starts to freak out and lose her concentration, she will get caught.

When one man drops down, he is replaced by three others. Hana has no doubt she can continue kicking these men in the face and dropping them, but they try to herd her into the back door from which she just exited. The Waterbender gives an uncharacteristic snarl and uncaringly smashes the heels of her palms into two throats and drops to the ground, pumping a fist right into the other man's stomach. Screeching tires build up some smoke at the opening of the alleyway and the brights on the headlights are on, blinding all of them. Hana doesn't hesitate. She dashes forward, taking a couple of suits down with her. Grabbing the handle of the sliding door of the van, she whips it open and jumps inside, yelling at the driver to go.

When she turns around, five men in black suits grab her. She got in the wrong van.

A second van swerves around the corner.

"_I'm in the wrong van!"_ Hana's voice screeches over the ear piece.

Ally grows cold for a moment, and then anger builds in her stomach. Like hell today is going to end like this. The Airbender reaches for the bottom of her skirt and she rips off a good few inches. Ally refuses to let today end like this. Tying the cloth other her mouth, she takes off her shoes as she breathes heavily into the silk lining of the torn skirt. By now, the van is almost half a mile away. She can catch them, no problem.

Ally jumps one building, two, three, and four. Running on the last building, she sees that she is running out of large buildings. With a wince, she jumps with a little more bending and slams down on the roof of the moving van. Ally takes a deep breath, and slams an airbent fist through the roof, blowing more than half of it off. Hana twists and punches the men she can reach. One has a syringe in hand, to knockout the vicious Waterbender. Ally jumps in and flings out three of the five men in the back seat through the front window, air rushing out and cutting the two men in the front seat. Hana jabs her elbow into the face of the man holding her and trying to inject the drug in her arm.

"Leave," Ally yells, kicking air towards the weak van door out.

Hana takes the opportunity, trusting her leader and her friend. Hana leaps out, landing on one of the broken van doors and riding it until the speed slows down. Heero's van pulls up next to her and Zumi yanks Hana inside.

"She's still on board!" she informs Zumi frantically, "We have to follow the van!"

"_No."_

Ally's voice comes over the ear pieces of Heero, Zumi and Hana. She is calm, but there are spaces where her breath is heavy as she hits or dodges one of the remaining suits.

"_Leave before they try to tail you. I will keep them busy. If I don't return in 24 hours, assume that I'm dead or captured. This is a final order. Do not disobey."_

"Ally!" Zumi yells into her mic. No response. "Ally! Goddamnit, answer me! Ally!"

Heero turns the van away from where the Airbender is heading and starts back to Relena's palace. The Firebender still yells into the microphone, tears in her eyes as she curses her friend that abandoned Zumi and everyone else to save them from the botched mission. Hana shakily slides down the van door, clenching her fists over her head. What can she do? How can she fix this?

"_Heero, we're pulling out,"_ Duo informs over the earpiece, "_Everyone is. Today was just a bad day."_

"Keep to the scheduled time," 01 replies, "We can't do anything else."

"_Rodger that,"_ Duo sighs over the communication link.

Zumi soon slows her yelling, crying her curses and whispering the Airbender's name, almost hoping by saying her name, Zumi can save Ally. 01 tightens his grip on the steering wheel. Ally's logic and orders are sound. He has no choice but to follow them out. The others all meet at Relena's home. Trowa, Quatre and Zechs are the first to arrive. Instead of bothering to see if Relena is home, the three of them wait.

"Are you sure that Hana and everyone else got out of the building, Trowa?" Quatre asks for the second time. Usually Quatre would never ask Trowa something twice unless it was very important.

"Yes, I'm sure they got out of the build," Trowa responds patiently, "Whether or not they make it back here is another thing entirely."

The door opens and Duo, Kit and Wufei walk in, surprised at the reception.

"Hey guys, nice of you to greet us," Duo starts with a sad smirk, but notices something's wrong, "but I don't think you were waiting for us."

"Did any of you hear what happened in the building?" Zechs asks, leaning against the wall."

"No, we only received the information that Markus wasn't there and that we were to pull out," Wufei replies, "Why? Did something happen?"

The door opens again.

Zumi stopped cry about half an hour ago, but she has kept her head low until now. Zumi still clutches the microphone that was attached to her shirt and looks up at Kit with a broken expression. Hana still refuses to move any more than she has to.

"Kit," Zumi says thickly, "Ally…she―"

The Firebender can't say it. She can't say that her friend may be in the hands of Markus again.

"She saved me," Hana quietly finishes, clenching her fists, "She said that if she didn't come back in a day that she is either dead or…captured. She said it was a final order."

Kit freezes, unsure of what she has just been told.

"Did she say not to follow?" she yells back, coming towards Hana, "Did she?"

"It was a final order," Hana whispers back.

The men don't understand the meaning of the phrase final order, but they can gather that it is a code meaning that the person giving the order wouldn't be seen alive again.

"W-we have to go after her!" Kit stutters, "I'm not letting her give a final order. She promised that I would never hear those words from her."

At that moment, the dark haired Waterbender realizes that Ally kept her promise. She never heard Ally say that phrase. Kit heard it through Hana. The furious Waterbender turns on her heel and storms out of the door.

"Where are you going?" Wufei demands, grabbing her arm.

"I'm not going after her," Kit replies calmly, "I will wait for her outside. She never gave me that order, so it doesn't exist."

The woman yanks her arm out of 05's grasp. Wufei moves to hold Kit again.

"Let her go, Wufei," Heero calls, "We'll need someone to look out for Ally when she comes back. We don't know if she will be injured or not."

Two slow hours pass and someone walks up to the lawn. Kit brightens at the figure, but notices that the person is too tall to be the Airbender. Hailey walks up to Kit and asks what's wrong. She tells the Earthbender that Ally was stupid and said something about a final order. Kit says that she is waiting for Ally to come back and to make Ally tell Kit that the order was a fake.

"I'll wait with you," Hailey says and takes a seat on the lawn next to Kit, "That idiot has a lot to answer for."

Even the crickets are silent. Kit absently plucks small bits of grass, nervously twisting them in her fingers. After a few minutes, Zumi slumps down to the grass with the other two benders. Hana takes her seat next to Kit. Hana curls her arms around her knees and rests her face on her own knees. All they can do is wait. The women certainly have enough faith and hope in their friend. Waiting is always the hardest. The hour grows longer and the sky becomes darker. Soon, the sun falls, but the women have not moved one bit. Every one of them have their eyes shut, but they are far from sleep. Relena comes back to her home around eight at night. The twelve hour mark for the final order is rising. Relena steps out of her plain, but expensive black car and looks at the women with curiosity. The politician's natural instincts tell her something went very wrong today.

She walks in the door and finds no one there.

"Milliardo?" Relena calls out, walking around the main floor of the home.

"Here, Relena," he calls from the sitting room.

She enters the usually cheerful looking place to find all of the Gundam pilots and her brother in the same gloomy shape as the women on the front lawn.

"Milliardo, what's happened?" Relena asks, glancing at all of the pilots. At that moment, she notices that Ally is not there. "Where is Ally?"

Duo winces and looks away from Relena's direction.

"We're not sure," Zechs replies without missing a beat, "The others are waiting outside for her to return."

"Something…terrible happened today, didn't it?" she quietly asks, looking at each of her friends.

"A disaster is more like it," 02 grumbles, "All this grief and nothing to show from it but a little bit of information that may prove to be worthless. Man, I hate today."

"We failed the mission, Relena," Heero clarifies, "Our target wasn't where he was supposed to be because of a sudden change in his schedule. There was trouble getting out and Ally is missing."

The blonde's eyes widen and she drops her head. All these women seem so strong to Relena. They have that same type of aura that the ex-pilots and her brother have. The five mysterious women always carry that air of indestructible will and strength. Ally has it the most because of the sheer determination she shows.

"I truly hope she will make it back safely," she murmurs, almost praying.

"All we can do is wait," Trowa replies calmly.

Two more hours pass silently. Relena excuses herself to complete some of her office work. She just can't take the tension the five ex-pilots are giving off right now. Something happened between the five men and five women before this mission was carried out. Relena knows that, but even though the five men should be upset at the women, they all seem to be worried over this one woman a great deal more than they would care to admit. Relena doesn't know what the women did to make the ex-Gundam pilots angry at them, but it seems that the ten of them created a strong friendship if the worry overrides the anger.

Two more hours pass. Quatre goes outside to check on the women, but no one has move an inch since they sat down. The Arab tries to say something but words catch in his throat. What can he say at this time? He shakes his head. Quatre has to say something, anything.

"I…I don't really know Ally that well," he starts off somewhat weakly, "but I can tell that she isn't someone to give up so easily. I know she will come back."

"We know."

Kit's simple and calm response throws Quatre off for a moment.

"We know that she is strong," Hana says, her head still resting on her knees.

"We know she won't give up," Zumi mutters thickly.

"We know that she will come back," Hailey replies somewhat blandly, "and when she does come back, we're gonna kick her ass."

Quatre is stunned. Faith is something these women never really professed to have. Confidence in one another, sure. Trust, undoubtedly. But faith in each other outweighs any feeling. Maybe, to these women, faith is the same as trust and confidence. A quiet smile reaches 04s lips. He seriously underestimated their feelings for each other. These women are like a family that has been through hell and back and the women just laughed in the face of the devil. No, these women aren't like a family, they are a family.

"Go easy on her," he responds, "she'll probably be tired."

Quatre walks back up the lawn and enters the house silently. Hailey appreciates Quatre's attempt to make the women feel better, but she believes everything she said. Ally has to come back. That Airbender has no choice but to live through this war. Ally said so herself. Kit starts tapping the grass in a specific type of rhythm and she starts to hum something the other women start to generally pick up. There is an answer to the term "final order," should the one that ordered it comes back alive. Zumi smirks slowly and starts the benders anthem of hope.

"Paranoia is in bloom,  
The PR transmissions will resume.  
They'll try to push drugs that keep us all dumbed down  
And hope that we will never see the truth around.  
So come on."

Hana taps the grass and her thighs in a steady beat and picks up after the Firebender.

"Another promise, another seed  
Another packaged lie to keep us trapped in greed.  
And all the green belts wrapped around our minds  
And endless red tape to keep the truth confined.  
So come on."

All the women blend their encouraged and broken voices together now.

"They will not force us,  
They will stop degrading us,  
They will not control us.  
We will be victorious.  
So come on."

Hailey notices some movement to the far left side of Relena's compound. The Earthbender keeps a bending eye on the movement, but she doesn't inform the other women that there is movement. After all, it could just be an animal after all.

"Interchanging mind control,  
Come let the revolution takes its toll.  
If you could flick the switch and open your third eye,  
You'd see that we should never be afraid to die.  
So come on.  
Rise up and take the power back.  
It's time the fat cats had a heart attack.  
You know that their time's coming to an end.  
We have to unify and watch our flag ascend.  
So come on.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey  
Hey, hey, hey, hey  
Hey, hey, hey, hey."

The weight is too heavy to be a regular animal. It has to be a person. Still, Hailey says nothing.

"They will not force us  
They will stop degrading us  
They will not control us  
We will be victo―"

A loud snap and heavy steps come from the left. Hailey has no doubt now. She stands; the others scramble to join her. A small figure walks hunched over and wobbles every few steps. One arm is pressed somewhere on the figure's shoulder. Ally walks into the streetlamp light, looks up with her blood and smoke smeared face with a grin.

"So come on," Ally finishes.


End file.
